Role of umbilical interleukin-6, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein measurement in the diagnosis of fetal inflammatory response syndrome.

OBJECTIVE Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome (FIRS) is a serious complication accompanied by increased neonatal mortality and morbidity. Early dia-gnosis of FIRS is essential to detect high risk infants. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) in cord blood and histologically proven funisitis/ chorioamnionitis in high-risk infants after preterm birth. METHODS Blood sampling for the measurement of inflammatory bio-markers was performed immediately after placental delivery and umbilical cutting. Umbilical and placental inflammatory changes were assessed using a recently released scoring system (Amsterdam Placental Workshop Group Consensus). RESULTS One hundred preterm infants (30.5 ± 2.5 gestational week, birth weight 1,443 ± 566 grams) and 21 health term infants were analyzed. Histologic chorioamnionitis was confirmed in 19% cases and chorioamnionitis with funisitis in 7% cases. Thirty-three infants (33%) fulfilled criteria of FIRS (funistis and/ or umbilical IL-6 > 11 ng/ L). The presence of FIRS correlated significantly with maternal leukocytosis (P.