SynthesisPediatric research2022
Umbilical cord blood culture in neonatal early-onset sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pediatric research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and risk factors for neonatal sepsis among very preterm infants in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Clinical utility of combined serum IL-6, PCT, and SAA assays for early diagnosis and severity stratification of neonatal sepsis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Application of Umbilical Cord Blood for the Clinical Prevention and Treatment of Complications in Preterm Infants(Review).Stem cell reviews and reports · 2026Review
- Umbilical cord blood culture for early onset sepsis in preterm infants.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Promise and pitfalls of umbilical cord blood culture for neonatal early-onset sepsis.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction in Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Blood culture collection practices in NICU; A national survey.Paediatrics & child health · 2023Article
- Potential of Molecular Culture in Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis Diagnosis: A Proof of Principle Study.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Group BAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Neonatal Early Onset Sepsis (EOS) Calculator plus Universal Serial Physical Examination (SPE): A Prospective Two-Step Implementation of a Neonatal EOS Prevention Protocol for Reduction of Sepsis Workup and Antibiotic Treatment.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPeripheral blood culture (PBC) is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS), but its diagnostic value can be questioned. We aimed to systematically asses the diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) of umbilical cord blood culture (UCBC) for EOS.
methodsA systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Studies performing UCBC for the diagnosis of EOS were included.
resultsA total of 1908 articles were screened of which 17 were included. Incidences of positive PBC and UCBC were low in all studies. There was a large heterogeneity in the consistency between positive PBC and UCBC outcomes. PBC had a pooled sensitivity of 20.4% (95% CI 0.0-40.9) and specificity of 100.0% (95% CI 100.0-100.0) compared to 42.6% (95% CI 12.7-72.4%) and 97.8% (95% CI 93.1-100.0) of UCBC for clinical EOS, defined as clinical sepsis regardless of PBC outcomes.
conclusionsThis systematic review shows that, compared to PBC, UCBC has higher sensitivity and comparable specificity for clinical EOS and might be considered as diagnostic test for EOS. Due to the limited number of studies, low incidences of EOS cases, and the imperfect reference standards for EOS, results should be interpreted cautiously. IMPACT: This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the diagnostic test accuracy of umbilical cord blood culture for neonatal early-onset sepsis. Peripheral blood culture is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of neonatal early-onset sepsis, but its value for this specific diagnosis can be questioned. Umbilical cord blood culture has higher sensitivity and comparable specificity for diagnosis of neonatal early-onset sepsis compared to peripheral blood culture, circumventing the risk for iatrogenic anemia and consequently might be used as a diagnostic tool for early-onset sepsis. Quality of evidence was regarded as low due to imperfect diagnostic methods of neonatal early-onset sepsis.
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