ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical significance of serum cystatin C(CysC)level in the diagnosis of renal damage in critically ill children.Methods One handred and forty-two critically ill children admitted to the Boai Hospital pediatric intensive care unit from January 2007 to December 2008 were included in the study.CysC,serum creafinine(SCr)and creatinine clearance rate(Ccr)were collected and analyzed.Pediatric critical illness scoring was done to assess the degree of disease.Renal damage was established according to Ccr＜80 ml/(min·1.73 m~2)(traditional gold standard)and CysC＞1.50 mg/L.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)was analyzed to get the best point value of the diagnosis,and evaluated its sensitivity and specificity.Results According to the Ccr and CysC standards,the incidence of renal injury were 40.8%(58/142)and 50.7%(72/142),respectively(χ~2 =64.93,P＜0.001);ROC curve analysis showed that the best diagnosis point of renal injury was 1.55 mg/L;sensitivity of 94.8%,specificity 81.0%.Area under the ROC curve was 0.98(95%CI 0.97～0.98),for the diagnosis of renal damage in critically ill children was statistically significant(P=0.000).Conclusion Serum cystatin C level is a better marker of renal damage than the Ccr,can increase the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.of renal damage in critically ill children.