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Abstract Neonatal sepsis is a worldwide problem and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality . Early recognition of neonatal sepsis is difficult because of the variable and non-specific clinical presentation of this condition . It is extremely important to make an early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis for the prompt institution of the anti-microbial therapy, which improves the outcomes. There is no single reliable test for the early definite diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and therefore, there is a continuing search for a new infection marker. Several markers of infection have been studied in critically ill neonates aiming to differentiate between sepsis and non-infectious conditions, among them serum endocan. Serum endocan has been reported as a measurable marker in neonatal sepsis . It has been proposed as a marker of bacterial infection . Its level increases early in cases of sepsis and septic shock. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of endocan in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. This study included 83 neonates and was done in El-Minia Children University Hospital and were recruited during the period from April 2015 to September 2015 . The studied neonates were classified into two groups; (group 1) included 47 neonates who were diagnosed as having neonatal sepsis and (group 2) which included 36 apparently healthy neonates served as the control group. The studied groups were subjected to thorough history taking, clinical examination and laboratory investigations including complete blood count, C-reactive protein and serum endocan level. Our results showed significant higher levels of platelets, staff, segment, C-reactive protein and endocan in neonates with sepsis than the control group. Also, there were a significant moderate positive correlation between endocan and platelets and insignificant correlation between endocan and hemoglobin among the neonates with sepsis. Finally this study showed that C reactive protein had higher sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV than endocan as it was our indicator in the study. |