Single-center prospective study of serum procalcitonin concentrations in children with infectious diseases / 国际儿科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the change of serum procalcitonin (PCT)in infectious diseases and the relationship between PCT and the severity of illness in children.Methods This was a single-center prospective study of serum procalcitonin concentration in children with infectious diseases.Ninty-five children with infectious diseases (mycoplasma infection 30 cases,viral infection 30 cases,bacterial infection 35 cases),hospitalized in PICU of Shengjing Hospital from April 2011 to April 2013,were divided into three groupsnon-serious group(64 cases),serious group(20 cases)and very serious group(11 cases)according to pediatric critical illness score(PCIS).Bacterial infectious patients were divided into two groupsgram positive bacterial group(20cases),gram negative bacterial group(15 cases).Twenty children of non-infectious diseases during the same period were selected as the control group.Serum PCT levels were detected by using VIDAS BRAHMS PCT detection system(rapid semi-quantitative PCT test).Laboratory detection was conducted in Department of Laboratory Medicine,Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University.Results The serum PCT levels of the control,the bacterial infection,virus infection,and mycoplasma infection group were (0.41 ± 0.34) μg/L,(2.56 ± 0.38)μg/L,(0.52 ±0.44) μg/L and(0.21 ±0.10) μg/L.The serun PCT levels higher than or equal to 0.5 μg/L were defirned as positive.There was significant difference in PCT positive rate between bacterial infection group and the control grouP(x2 =28.05,P ＜0.05).The serum PCT levels of children with infectious diseases were higher than those of non-infection group,mycoplasma infection group and virus infection group(P ＜ 0.05).Besides,the PCT value of gram negative bacillus infection group was also obvious higher than gram positive infection group.There was no significant difference among the non-infection group,mycoplasma infection group and virus infection group(P ＞ 0.05).There was significant negative correlation between the serum PCT concentration and the PCIS score in children with infectious diseases (r =-0.579 ～-0.793,P ＜ 0.05).The higher concentration of PCT in children with the infectious diseases indicated higher severity illness scores,more complications,and longer length of hospital stay.Conclusions PCT may provide an informative and sensitive molecular marker for pathogen identification (bacterial infection,pneumonia mycoplasma infection or viral infection).In the early diagnosis of infectious disease,PCT assay can help predict the severity of the disease.