Diagnostic Accuracy of Lactate Dehydrogenase and Serum Creatine Kinase to Detect Prenatal Hypoxia in Term Neonates

Background: Prenatal hypoxia is a condition where the fetus experiences insufficient oxygen levels and it can lead to morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the serum CK-MB fraction and LDH for the diagnosis of prenatal hypoxia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Pediatric Department of Central Park Teaching Hospital, Lahore, from June 2022 to February 2024. The study included 240 newborns with signs of hypoxia, using purposive sampling and excluding cases with specific health conditions. Demographics, LDH, and CK-MB levels were analyzed in SPSS for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value PPV and negative predictive value (NPV, and diagnostic accuracy, with stratification by neonatal characteristics. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The age distribution showed that 63.33% were up to six hours old.CK-MB (sensitivity 93.12%, specificity 66.72%) and LDH (sensitivity 98.40%, specificity 92.31%) PPV 97.42%, NPV 22.15%, and accuracy 92.92%. LDH showed a sensitivity of 98.40%, specificity of 92.31%, PPV of 79.40%, NPV of 57.14%, and accuracy of 78.89% for diagnosing perinatal hypoxia. Conclusion: Despite CK-MB having higher accuracy, LDH is considered more reliable due to its superior sensitivity and specificity, which are crucial for detecting prenatal hypoxia.