The Evaluation of Mean Platelet Volume in Neonates with Intraventricular Hemorrhage and Sepsis

Neonatal sepsis is a generalized bacterial infection which occurs in the first month of life. Intraventricular hemorrhage is the most common intracerebral disorder which occurs in premature neonates. Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) is considered as a marker of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in some studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of MPV on IVH and sepsis in neonates. In this retrospective case-control study, 20 premature neonates with sepsis and 20 with sepsis and intraventricular hemorrhage were considered as case groups and 20 premature neonates without sepsis and IVH were regarded as control group. Demographic data as well as patients' data on IVH presence, IVH grading, mortality, platelet account, and MPVon the first and third days after birth were recorded using their medical files. After data collection, analysis was performed using SPSS (version 21) and running descriptive and analytical methods (T test, ANOVA and Chi square test). In this study, 10 newborns (50%) in the sepsis group, 13 newborns (65%) in the IVH – sepsis group, and 10 newborns (50%) in the control group were male (P = 0.523). Mean ± standard deviation of gestational age and weight at birth were significantly lower in the IVH and sepsis group in comparison with the other two groups (P-value < 0.001). Considering platelet count on first day, no significant difference was observed among three groups; however, it was lower in the control group than the sepsis group as well as the IVH and sepsis group (P=0.004). Gender, birth weight, gestational age, onset of sepsis, and presence of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) could not make significant changes in MPV three groups. The results showed that MPV on the first day was significantly higher in patients with sepsis or with sepsis and IVH.