Department of Pathology, Army Medical College, National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
J Clin Lab Anal. 2010;24(1):1-5. doi: 10.1002/jcla.20333.
Early diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia plays a pivotal role in the management. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin (PCT) as compared with C-reactive protein (CRP) for the early diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia in children. In total, 92 children consisting of 46 patients of bacterial pneumonia were admitted in the Military hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan and equal number of controls were included. Patient's investigations were carried out at admission. PCT and CRP were analyzed on Vidas analyzer and Immulite 1000, respectively. Out of 46 pneumonia patients, 28 were male and 18 female, with a median age of 4 years. PCT levels were significantly high median (range) of 2.69 ng/ml (0.30-13.00) vs. 0.45 ng/ml (0.10-2.00) in controls. Serum CRP levels were moderately elevated with median (range) 6.5 mg/l (0.30-60) vs. 0.30 mg/l (0.30-5.0) in controls. The area under receiver characteristic curves for PCT and CRP were 0.89 (95% CI=0.83-0.96) and 0.79 (95% CI=0.70-0.88), respectively. In total, 38 patients were diagnosed to have bacterial pneumonia with PCT (sensitivity 83% at cutoff > or = 1 ng/ml) and 26 children with CRP (sensitivity 57% at cutoff > or = 6 mg/L). PCT has better diagnostic accuracy than CRP and can be utilized for early diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia in children.
早期诊断细菌性肺炎在治疗中起着关键作用。我们评估了降钙素原 (PCT) 与 C 反应蛋白 (CRP) 相比用于诊断儿童细菌性肺炎的早期诊断的准确性。在巴基斯坦拉瓦尔品第的军事医院共收治了 92 名儿童，其中 46 名患者为细菌性肺炎，纳入了相同数量的对照组。患者入院时进行了检查。PCT 和 CRP 分别在 Vidas 分析仪和 Immulite 1000 上进行分析。在 46 名肺炎患者中，28 名男性，18 名女性，中位数年龄为 4 岁。PCT 水平明显升高，中位数（范围）为 2.69ng/ml（0.30-13.00）比对照组的 0.45ng/ml（0.10-2.00）高。血清 CRP 水平中度升高，中位数（范围）为 6.5mg/L（0.30-60）比对照组的 0.30mg/L（0.30-5.0）高。PCT 和 CRP 的受试者工作特征曲线下面积分别为 0.89（95%CI=0.83-0.96）和 0.79（95%CI=0.70-0.88）。共有 38 名患者被诊断为细菌性肺炎，PCT（截断值>或=1ng/ml 时的敏感性为 83%），26 名儿童 CRP（截断值>或=6mg/L 时的敏感性为 57%）。PCT 的诊断准确性优于 CRP，可用于儿童细菌性肺炎的早期诊断。
