Dierikx TH, van Kaam AHLC, de Meij TGJ, et al. - Via this systematic review and meta-analysis, the diagnostic test accuracy of umbilical cord blood culture for early-onset sepsis was systematically assessed for the first time.

• The gold standard for diagnosis of neonatal early-onset sepsis is peripheral blood culture, but uncertainty remains concerning its value for this specific diagnosis.

• For diagnosis of neonatal early-onset sepsis, umbilical cord blood culture vs peripheral blood culture had higher sensitivity and comparable specificity, that avoided the risk for iatrogenic anemia and consequently might be employed as a diagnostic tool for early-onset sepsis.

• Due to imperfect diagnostic methods of neonatal early-onset sepsis, low quality of evidence was generated in this work.