A Clinicopathological Study of Thrombocytopenia and Platelet Indices in Neonatal Sepsis

Background and Objective: Neonatal sepsis is a growing health problem in third world countries, like India. The present clinic pathological study was performed to assess the grade of thrombocytopenia and platelet indices in patients with neonatal sepsis. Materials and Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics and Pathology JNMC, Aligarh from 2019-2021 in 172 babies (cases = 142, controls = 30). Neonates who presented with clinical signs or symptoms of sepsis were taken as the case group and healthy neonates were taken as the control and grade of thrombocytopenia and platelet indices ascertained. Results: The most common symptom in neonates with sepsis was respiratory distress, 108 (76.4%) followed by poor suckling in 96 (67.6%) and lethargy in 87 (61.0%). Moderate thrombocytopenia was seen in 47 (33.1%) cases. Blood culture was positive in 58 (40.8%) of the sepsis patients. The average Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) was 8.51±1.60 fL in culture-positive neonates and 8.50±1.45 fL in culture-negative cases (p = 0.94). The mean platelet crit (PCT) was 0.09±0.06% in culture-positive neonates and 0.11±0.05% in culture-negative cases (p = 0.13). Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia is one of the early but non-specific indicators of neonatal sepsis. Therefore, hematological parameters like mean platelet volume and platelet crit can be an added tool to detect early onset neonatal septicemia.