Comparison of the Efficacy of Serum Creatinine and Microalbuminuria in Early Diagnosis of Renal Injury in Asphyxiated Infants in Calabar, Southern Nigeria

Microalbuminuria and serum creatinine are the specific markers of acute renal injury. Perinatal asphyxia is responsible for 50% of all neonatal deaths and nonoliguric acute renal injuryis one of its complications. This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of serum creatinine and microalbuminuria for early diagnosis of renal injury in severely asphyxiated neonates in Calabar, Nigeria.
This prospective cross-sectional study was performed among severely asphyxiated newborns admitted into the neonatal wards of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH). Standard methods for the determination of blood urea and electrolyte were executed. Micral-test strips have been applied using urine dipstick and the result of the test was negative only for albumin. The developed colors have been compared five minutes after the first test.
Fifty full-term newborns were enrolled and their serum electrolytes, creatinine and the creatinine clearance were essentially normal. Six neonates demonstrated positive results in the microalbominuria assessment, while the rest were negative in this regard. The test has 0% sensitivity and 100% specificity, while the positive and negative predictive values were 0% and 88%, respectively.
Microalbuminuria is not a useful marker for early diagnosis of acute renal failure in the newborns with severe prenatal asphyxia, but further studies are recommended.