ABSTRACT
Objective To study the changes of serum procaleitonin(PCT) in the children with acute liver failure,and to investigate the relationship between PCT and severity and prognosis of acute liver failure.Methods A retrospective analysis of 24 children with acute liver failure admitted in Shengjing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University from October 2010 to November 2013 was performed.The changes of serum PCT,blood routine,C-reactive protein,blood culture,virus,Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody,blood ammonia,serum alaninetransaminase,serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase,international normalized ratio and prothrombin time level were observed.Results The serum PCT of children with acute liver failure originally increased at different degree.The serum PCT of 21 cases was more than 0.5 μg/L.The dynamic monitoring results of serum PCT in 6 cases on day 1,day 3,and day 8 were (12.55 ± 13.65) μg/L,(5.62 ±8.12) μg/L,(0.15 ± 0.26)μg/L,respectively,which showed decrease tendency.In 24 children with acute liver failure,serum PCT,international normalized ratio,blood ammonia of survival cases were significantly decreased compared with death cases[(28.37 ±60.22) μg/L vs(12.24 ± 14.76) μg/L;4.28 ± 2.50 vs 3.16 ±1.41 ; (213.30 ± 185.87) μmol/L vs (128.89 ± 102.17) μmol/L] (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Acute liver failure could increase the levels of serum PCT.Serum PCT may be an effective index to evaluate liver function,curative effect and prognosis of patients with acute liver failure.