[C-reactive protein and the diagnosis of neonatal infection. A retrospective study of 242 cases].

Serum C Reactive Protein (CRP) levels were measured in 242 neonates in whom materno foetal infection were suspected. In the 68 neonates in whom infection was proven, CRP levels were greater than or equal to 10 mg/l in 46 cases (68%). In the 154 neonates who were not infected, CRP levels were less than 10 mg/l in 132 cases (86%). In the 20 not infected neonates with positive peripheral samples for the same organism, CRP levels were less than 10 mg/l in 20 cases (100%). From these data, sensibility and specificity of CRP test for neonatal infection were respectively 67.6% and 85.7%.