Objective: Sepsis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in newborn infants. Cardiac involvement is also an important prognostic factor. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the prognosis of neonatal sepsis and the levels of cardiac biomarkers such as cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) and creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB).

Material and Method: Eighty-seven patients with culture-positive sepsis (Group I, n =26) or clinical sepsis (Group II, n =61) were enrolled the study. The control group (Group III) consisted of 42 non-septic healthy neonates. Demographic data and laboratory results of the cases were examined. Clinical outcomes (survival or death) were also recorded.

Results: No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of gender, gestational age and birth weight. Six of eight septic patients (75%) with elevated cTnI died. Conversely, 13 of other septic patients (11%) with normal cTnI levels died. Hence, the mortality rate was statistically significantly higher in patients with elevated cTnI levels (p <0.001). This study revealed that the cTnI cut-off value in neonates was 0.13 ng/ml (sensitivity 89.5%, specificity 90.9%). A 0.1-unit increase in cTnI level increased the risk of death by 1.4 times (p =0.012). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between surviving and deceased patients in terms of CK-MB levels (15.8% and 11.8%, respectively) (p >0.05).

Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between elevated cTnI levels and mortality in septic neonates. However, further multicenter studies with larger populations are needed to determine the relationship between cTnI levels and long-term prognosis in septic neonates.