Platelet volume measurements have been used to differentiate consumptive and hypoplastic thrombocytopenia. Since thrombocytopenia is a frequent complication of neonatal sepsis, the authors explored the utility of correlating mean platelet volume (MVP) and platelet distribution width (PDW) with bacteremia. In a sample of 156 infants, there was a significantly increased presence of bacteremia in those infants with MPV greater than 10.8 fL and/or PDW greater than 19.1%. High MPV and PDW showed high specificity for detecting bacteremia (95% and 79%, respectively), and had good negative predictive value. Neonates with blood cultures positive at birth (early infection) tended to have normal platelet volumes, while those infected after three days of age (late infection) had dramatic increases in MPV and PDW. Changes in MPV and PDW should be noted when the diagnosis of late sepsis is considered.

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A retrospective investigation examined patterns of use of prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes (low birthweight and preterm births) in 6176 pregnancies without antepartum medical complications. Prenatal care use patterns differed significantly by mother's age, marital status, race, education, method of payment, and gravidity. By controlling for these differences through a logistic regression procedure, results showed that prenatal care was associated with significant reductions in the number of infants who were delivered preterm or had low birthweight. Fewer very low-birthweight (less than 1500 g) infants were among the preterm infants delivered to mothers with prenatal care compared with women who received no prenatal care. These data suggest that significant improvements in pregnancy outcomes are seen among women who use prenatal care, and these benefits occur in the absence of antepartum complications.

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