Presepsin as a diagnostic marker of bacterial infections in febrile neutropenic pediatric patients with hematological malignancies

Ahmad Baraka, Marwa Zakaria

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is often observed in hematological malignancies (HEM). Presepsin is also known as soluble CD14 subtype; it is a glycoprotein fragment derived from monocytes and macrophages. We aimed to evaluate the significance of presepsin and other biomarkers for diagnosis of bacteremia in children with HEM. Sixty pediatric patients with different HEM (acute lymphoblastic leukemia 36, acute myeloid leukemia 12, non-Hodgkin lymphoma 10, and Hodgkin disease 2). Thirty age and sex-matched healthy children serving as control were enrolled in this study. Estimation of presepsin, procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactive protein (CRP) during episode of FN in addition to absolute neutrophils count (ANC) and blood culture was performed for all the participants. Presepsin levels were higher in the patients than in control with a higher increments in the positive blood cultures than the sterile cases. Presepsin concentration was significantly higher in bacteremia than clinically proved infection and fever of unknown origin. A statistically significant positive correlation between presepsin and CRP plus PCT levels but negative correlation with ANC were observed in the patients subgroups. Presepsin is a useful marker for detection of bacteremia with sensitivity and specificity (100 and 85.7%). This finding supported that presepsin was superior to PCT and CRP in identifying bacterial infection in FN.