A study of elevated red cell distribution width (RDW) in early-onset neonatal sepsis

Background Neonatal sepsis is a serious infection occurring within the first 28 days of life. It is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is estimated within the standard CBC profile and considered a simple tool for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis without additional cost. Our aim in this study is to investigate the potential role of red cell distribution width (RDW) in the diagnosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS). The aim of our study is to detect the role of red cell distribution width (RDW) in the diagnosis and prognosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS). Results This case-control study was conducted at the NICU of Beni-Suef University Hospital and revealed that RDW% was highly significantly higher among cases than among controls (16.65 ± 4.28, 11.13 ± 0.62, respectively); regarding the severity of neonatal sepsis, we divided our cases into three groups (sepsis group includes 21 neonates, severe sepsis group includes 31 neonates, and septic shock group includes 48 neonates), there were statistically significant differences between the three groups (sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock) regarding RDW (15.15 ± 1.65, 16.78 ± 2.01, 17.02 ± 2.02, respectively) as P value (0.027). Conclusion This study revealed that RDW is associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of early-onset neonatal sepsis, so further study is needed to prove causation as it is being simple, less expensive, available, and easily repeated as it is routinely done with CBC, so it will be a good indicator for prognosis of neonatal sepsis.