Conclusions
In neonates with LONS, sTREM-1 has the potential to provide an excellent predictive value for septic shock/death. Larger sample sizes are needed to identify the optimal cut-off value of plasma sTREM-1 for this diagnosis and to provide diagnostic accuracy measures.
Results
Of 71 eligible subjects, nine (12.7%) progressed to septic shock and/or death. In the LONS-Non-Shock group, the sTREM-1 median and interquartile range (IQR) plasma value were 10 (10 to 70) pg/mL. In the LONS & Shock/Death group, the values were 567 (260 to 649) pg/mL. These values were significantly different (Mann-Whitney's U test, p=0.001). A ROC curve for a proposed sTREM-1 cut-off value of 300 pg/mL exhibited an area under the curve of 0.884 (95% CI=0.73 to 1.0; p<0.0001), with a sensitivity of 0.78 (95% CI=0.46 to 0.94) and specificity of 0.97 (95% CI=0.92 to 0.99); PPV would be 0.78 (95% CI=0.46 to 0.94) and NPV 0.97 (95% CI=0.92 to 0.99). Conclusions: In neonates with LONS, sTREM-1 has the potential to provide an excellent predictive value for septic shock/death. Larger sample sizes are needed to identify the optimal cut-off value of plasma sTREM-1 for this diagnosis and to provide diagnostic accuracy measures.