Usefulness of the gastric aspirate examination in the diagnosis of neonatal infection.

We examined the efficacy of gastric aspirate examination (GAE) in the diagnosis of neonatal infection in 140 high-risk newborns, using positive blood culture as our definitive criterion for infection. The sensitivity of GAE in diagnosing sepsis was 75% and the specificity 68%. Six out of 48 babies with positive GAE proved to be septic while only two of 92 with negative GAE were septic. Gastric aspirate examination is useful in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis in high risk babies, although it is not a perfect screening test and will not replace the judgement of the clinician.