RYSZARD LAUTERBACH
Jagellonian University, Poland
Title: Non-activated protein C in treatment of neonatal sepsis
Biography
Biography: RYSZARD LAUTERBACH
Abstract
Background: Previously, we found that plasma protein C activity ≤10% significantly increased the probability of the occurrence of death during neonatal sepsis. Thus, if the activity of plasma protein C declined during the course of sepsis to ≤10%, we administered a non-activated protein C zymogen to increase a protein C activity. The aim of that retrospective analysis was to explore treatment effects of protein C zymogen (PC) supplementation in septic infants, with plasma protein C activity ≤10%.
Methods: A database was used to locate 85 newborns treated with PC from among 458 analyzed infants with confirmed sepsis.
Results: The median birth weight and gestational age of treated infants were, respectively 1010.0 g and 29 weeks. In 47 infants, early-onset sepsis (EOS) developed whereas in 38 neonates late-onset sepsis (LOS) was recognized. PC was given as a single dose of 200 IU/kg. Among 458 septic patients, death occurred in 19 newborns (4.2%), exclusively in infants with plasma protein C activity ≤10%. In 15 infants, death occurred in the course of EOS and 4 newborns died of LOS (EOS versus LOS; p=0.036; Chi-square with the Yates correction).
Conclusions: An increased risk of death in septic neonates with plasma protein C activity ≤10% suggests the necessity for its evaluation and possibility of supplementation of protein C zymogen.