ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection on the coagulation system in children and to clarify its mechanism in order to guide the therapeutic strategy for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in clinical practice.Methods A prospective and case control study was carried out in 36 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in Weifang People ' s Hospital from January through December in 2011.The 36 patients were divided into two groups according to the MP-IgM plasma titers,namely low-titer group with MP-IgM 1 ∶ 80-1 ∶ 160 (n =17) and high-titer group with MP-IgM 1 ∶ 320-1 ∶1280 (n =19).The subjects of control group (n =20) were recruited from healthy children as they took routine physical examination during the same period.Six indexes related to the coagulation function as well as D-dimer in plasma were determined.All data were analyzed by using SPSS 15.0 software.Results The levels of fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer in the low-titer group and high-titer group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The prothrombin (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) in the high-titer group were significantly shorter than those in the control group respectively (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children gives rise to the potential for activating the extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation system,promoting thrombosis and in turn inducing ischemic stroke in serious cases.