PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Serafina Perrone AU - Federica Lotti AU - Mariangela Longini AU - Annalisa Rossetti AU - Ilaria Bindi AU - Francesco Bazzini AU - Elisa Belvisi AU - Pasquale Sarnacchiaro AU - Carlo Scapellato AU - Giuseppe Buonocore TI - C reactive protein in healthy term newborns during the first 48 hours of life AID - 10.1136/archdischild-2016-312506 DP - 2018 Mar 01 TA - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition PG - F163--F166 VI - 103 IP - 2 4099 - http://fn.bmj.com/content/103/2/F163.short 4100 - http://fn.bmj.com/content/103/2/F163.full SO - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed2018 Mar 01; 103 AB - Background Early-onset neonatal sepsis (EOS) is a serious and potentially life-threatening disease in newborns. C reactive protein (CRP) is the most used laboratory biomarker for the detection of EOS. Little is known about normal reference values of CRP during the perinatal period as several factors are able to influence it.Objectives To identify an appropriate range of CRP values in healthy term newborns during the first 48 hours of life.Design CRP determination was performed in 859 term newborns at 12, 24 and 48 hours of life. Mode of delivery, maternal vaginal culture results, intrapartum antimicrobial prophylaxis (IAP) and other perinatal variables were recorded.Results CRP mean values were significantly higher at 48 hours (4.10 mg/L) than at both 24 (2.30 mg/L) and 12 hours of life (0.80 mg/L). CRP levels were affected by a number of perinatal proinflammatory variables. In particular, CRP mean values were significantly higher in babies born by vaginal delivery (3.80 mg/L) and emergency caesarean section (3.60 mg/L) than in babies born by elective caesarean section (2.10 mg/L). Completed course of IAP led to lower CRP mean values (2.90 mg/L) than IAP not completed (3.80 mg/L) or not performed (4.70 mg/L).Conclusions Postnatal age and mode of delivery significantly influence CRP values. Reliable reference values are crucial in order to obtain an adequate diagnostic accuracy.