Frequency of Different Perinatal Variables in Neonates with Different Reticulocyte Status During the Early Postnatal Period

Background: Reticulocyte is the young cell of the red blood cell and their estimation is very important to polarity marrow activity and erythropoiesis. During the early postnatal period, the transition from fetal to extrauterine life postnatal, physiologic changes occur and erythropoiesis is an essential part of the neonate oxygen delivery. Based on fact that reticulocytes reflect contemporary state of erythropoiesis, assessment of their numbers could prove effective in early detecting neonates with potential hematologic diseases and perinatal problems. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine frequency of Different Perinatal Variables with Reticulocyte spectrum in neonate. Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 160 neonates attending a tertiary health facility. Information obtained by using a structured questionnaire from medical records. Perinatal characteristics were investigated across reticulocyte status by applying chi-square tests, independent t-test, logistic regression, as well as the bivariate Pearson correlation. Results: No association existed between reticulocyte status and type of delivery (p = 0.942) or SGA status (p = 0.884). Nevertheless, neonates within this cohort who had high reticulocyte count values when delivered had significantly lower APGAR scores of (p= 0.047). There was a near significant main effect for CPAP use in predicting high reticulocyte count (F [1:71] = 3.90; p = 0.069. Analyzed by logistic regression analysis, gestational age, SGA status, and mode of delivery could not be ranked as significant predictors of reticulocyte status since the values were found to be beyond the 0.05 level. Conclusion: The results of this study underpin the importance of the studies carried out in order to determine the effectiveness of the reticulocyte counts as biomarkers in neonatal care.