The usefulness of the buffy coat smear and panbacterial polymerase chain reaction in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: In this study are evaluated the usefulness of the buffy coat smear and panbacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as diagnostic tests in the early detection of neonatal sepsis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: It was studied 49 patients aged up to 28 days who were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) of the Neonatology, with a clinical diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and 49 umbilical cord samples of healthy newborns. Blood cultures and 50 microL of plasma were taken for the DNA and performance of the broad-range PCR primer system (panbacterial PCR). Simultaneously, were taken three capillaries with blood for the leukocyte layer (buffy coat) smear, we performed three stains: Gram; Löeffler blue methylene (LBM), and acridine orange (AO). Statistical analysis included sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) against the clinical diagnosis. RESULTS: With respect to stains of buffy coat smear, they resulted very specific, from 90-97%, with 64-75% sensitivity, 87-94% PPV, and 77-82% NPV. In inverse fashion, PCR resulted very sensitive at 96%, with 91% specificity, 92% PPV, and 96% NPV. CONCLUSIONS: Buffy coat smear stains are easy, fast, and specific, while that of PCR was highly sensitive. Thus, both can be utilized as diagnostic tests.