Are complete blood cell counts useful in the evaluation of asymptomatic neonates exposed to suspected chorioamnionitis?
Jackson GL; Engle WD; Sendelbach DM; Vedro DA; Josey S; Vinson J; Bryant C; Hahn G; Rosenfeld CR Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75390-9063, USA. greg.jackson@utsouthwestern.edu OBJECTIVE: Chorioamnionitis complicates 1% to 10% of pregnancies and increases the risk of neonatal infection. Women with chorioamnionitis receive intrapartum antibiotics, often resulting in inconclusive neonatal blood cultures. Peripheral neutrophil values are used frequently to assist in the diagnosis of neonatal infection and to determine duration of antibiotics; we sought to determine the utility of this approach. METHODS: A prospective observational study was performed in 856 near-term/term neonates who were exposed to suspected chorioamnionitis. Each received antibiotics for 48 hours unless clinical infection or positive blood cultures occurred. Peripheral neutrophils were measured serially and anal
