Results:
We found 98 HCA women (62.42%) and 59 CON women (37.58%) in 157 PPROM
mothers. WBC and neutrophil significantly increased 24 hours after the
first injection in both groups, followed by a decrease at 72 hours post
first injection (P<0.05). No significances were found between
two groups in WBC, neutrophil and
lymphocyte. Both CRP and PCT were
significantly higher in the HCA group after first injection.
PCT had both high specificity and
sensitivity, especially at the baseline (cutoff, 0.031 ng/ml).
Furthermore, the
positive predictive values
(PPV) of PCT were respectively
0.946 and 0.960 at 48 (cutoff, 0.049 ng/ml) and 72 (cutoff, 0.051 ng/ml)
hours, which were better than the corresponding PPV
of CRP.
Conclusion:
The response of WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte to dexamethasone could be
differentiated from uterine
infection; PCT could be a
reliable biomarker for early diagnosis of HCA.