Role of plasma D-dimer levels as diagnostic and prognostic marker in neonatal sepsis: An insightful support

Neonatal sepsis remains a serious health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. Clinical diagnosis at presentation is often challenging due to nonspecific signs and symptoms. Laboratory biomarkers, blood cultures, and other diagnostic/prognostic tools such as the hematological scoring system developed by Rodwell and the neonatal organ failure assessment are not considered reliable for routine clinical use. Basiouny et al conducted a two-center prospective case-control study investigating the diagnostic and prognostic utility of D-dimer and heparin-binding protein in neonatal sepsis. Despite several limitations of their study, the present research provides novel insight into the role of plasma D-dimer levels in the diagnosis and prognosis of neonatal sepsis. While future multicenter studies with larger patient populations are required, these findings suggest the utility of D-dimer inclusion into sepsis multi-marker diagnostic models for newborns in order to complement rather than replace existing tools.