(1) Background: This study evaluates the predictive effectiveness of biomarkers in diagnosing newborn sepsis. (2) Methods: This was a case–control study conducted on neonates hospitalized at the Clinical Hospital “Louis Turcanu”, Timisoara, Romania, from October 2018 to July 2023. Using a vacutainer collection device, venous blood was collected at admission for complete blood tests, including ferritin, hemoglobin, LDH, and blood culture analysis. Neonates were divided into two groups: sepsis-positive and sepsis-negative. The outcome of interest was a diagnosis of sepsis. (3) Results: Data from 86 neonates, 51 of whom had been confirmed to have sepsis, were analyzed. This study found no significant difference in gestational age, infant weight, fetal growth restriction, or APGAR score between neonates with and without sepsis. However, there was a higher incidence of sepsis among neonates delivered via cesarean section. Neonatal patients with sepsis showed significantly higher levels of neonatal serum ferritin and LDH compared to those without sepsis. Ferritin and LDH biomarkers demonstrated excellent discriminatory capabilities in diagnosing neonatal sepsis. Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between elevated ferritin and LDH levels and the likelihood of neonatal sepsis, while anemia did not show a significant association. (4) Conclusions: LDH and ferritin concentrations are found to be predictive biomarkers for neonatal sepsis, indicating a potential role in detecting susceptible neonates and implementing prompt interventions to improve patient outcomes.

Background and Objectives: Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, largely due to late diagnosis and the limitations of currently available diagnostic tools. Systemic inflammatory markers derived from routine blood tests have emerged as potential low-cost biomarkers, reflecting the interaction between tumor biology and the host immune response. This study aimed to evaluate the association and diagnostic value of preoperative inflammatory markers in distinguishing malignant from non-malignant ovarian tumors. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, single-center observational study included 780 adult female patients diagnosed with ovarian tumors and treated surgically between January 2020 and December 2025. Preoperative hematological parameters were obtained from complete blood count analyses performed before any therapeutic intervention. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were calculated. Comparisons were performed among benign, borderline, and malignant tumors. To avoid collinearity between mathematically interrelated inflammatory indices, three separate multivariable logistic regression models were constructed, each including age, CA-125, and one inflammatory index. Diagnostic performance of the individual inflammatory indices was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Patients with malignant tumors were significantly older and exhibited higher NLR and PLR values and lower LMR values than patients with non-malignant tumors (all p < 0.001). In separate multivariable models adjusted for age and CA-125, higher NLR (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.41–2.27, p < 0.001) and PLR (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.17–1.75, p = 0.001) remained significantly associated with malignant ovarian tumors, whereas higher LMR was inversely associated with malignancy (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.52–0.85, p = 0.001). ROC analysis demonstrated moderate discriminative ability for NLR and PLR (AUC = 0.72 for both), whereas LMR showed lower discriminative performance (AUC = 0.64). Conclusions: Preoperative systemic inflammatory indices are significantly associated with ovarian tumor malignancy. NLR and PLR were positively associated with malignant disease, whereas LMR showed an inverse association, and these relationships remained significant after adjustment for age and CA-125. However, their individual discriminative performance was modest, suggesting that these readily available inflammatory indices should be considered complementary rather than standalone biomarkers for preoperative risk assessment.

Background and Objectives: Appendectomy during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth, but downstream neonatal outcomes, neonatal intensive care resource use, and caregiver-reported psychological symptom burden remain insufficiently characterized. We aimed to compare neonatal infection rates, NICU resource utilization, and caregiver psychosocial outcomes between preterm infants born after maternal appendectomy during pregnancy and preterm controls frequency-matched by gestational-age strata without antecedent non-obstetric surgery. Methods: In this single-center prospective cohort study (March 2023–December 2025), 121 preterm infants were enrolled: 54 born after maternal appendectomy during pregnancy (31 laparoscopic, 23 open) and 67 non-surgical preterm controls. Neonatal outcomes included culture-confirmed infection, death, or major neonatal morbidity, and neonatal intensive care resource metrics. Caregiver outcomes were assessed near discharge using the 36-Item Short Form Survey, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Group comparisons used normality-guided parametric or non-parametric tests and multivariable logistic regression; subgroup and mediation analyses were exploratory. Mediation analyses explored indirect pathways. Results: Culture-confirmed infection was numerically more frequent in appendectomy-group neonates than in controls (35.2% versus 20.9%; p = 0.078), but this difference was not statistically significant. NICU length of stay was significantly longer (47.3 ± 14.8 vs. 41.2 ± 12.6 days; p = 0.014), and caregiver Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depressive symptom scores were higher (12.4 ± 4.3 vs. 9.6 ± 3.8; p < 0.001). Open appendectomy and negative histopathology subgroups showed the strongest adverse signals. Exploratory mediation analysis suggested that a substantial portion of the appendectomy-caregiver depression association statistically co-varied with prolonged hospitalization (Sobel p = 0.008); this exploratory pathway analysis does not establish a causal mediation pathway. Conclusions: Preterm infants born after maternal appendectomy during pregnancy showed non-significant numerical increases in infection outcomes, significantly higher neonatal intensive care resource use, and higher caregiver-reported psychological symptom scores compared with non-surgical preterm controls, with open surgery and negative appendectomy representing clinically complex subgroups with less favorable exploratory signals.