Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27212844›Full record

ArticleAnnals of pediatric cardiology

Procalcitonin as a biomarker of bacterial infection in pediatric patients after congenital heart surgery.

Sujata B Chakravarti, Diane A Reformina, Timothy M Lee, Sunil P Malhotra, Ralph S Mosca, Puneet Bhatla

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of pediatric cardiology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sujata B ChakravartiDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Diane A ReforminaDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Timothy M LeeDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Sunil P MalhotraDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Ralph S MoscaDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
Puneet BhatlaDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
NYU Langone Health · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBacterial infection (BI) after congenital heart surgery (CHS) is associated with increased morbidity and is difficult to differentiate from systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Procalcitonin (PCT) has emerged as a reliable biomarker of BI in various populations.

aimTo determine the optimal PCT threshold to identify BI among children suspected of having infection following CPB. SETTING AND

designSingle-center retrospective observational study. MATERIALS AND

methodsMedical records of all the patients admitted between January 2013 and April 2015 were reviewed. Patients in the age range of 0-21 years of age who underwent CHS requiring CPB in whom PCT was drawn between postoperative days 0-8 due to suspicion of infection were included. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for nonparametric variables. The diagnostic performance of PCT was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

resultsNinety-eight patients were included. The median age was 2 months (25th and 75th interquartile of 0.1-7.5 months). Eleven patients were included in the BI group. The median PCT for the BI group (3.42 ng/mL, 25th and 75th interquartile of 2.34-5.67) was significantly higher than the median PCT for the noninfected group (0.8 ng/mL, 25th and 75th interquartile 0.38-3.39), P = 0.028. The PCT level that yielded the best compromise between the sensitivity (81.8%) and specificity (66.7%) was 2 ng/mL with an area under the ROC curve of 0.742.

conclusionA PCT less than 2 ng/mL makes BI unlikely in children suspected of infection after CHS.

Indexed as

Cardiac surgerycardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)congenital heart surgeryinfectionpediatricprocalcitonin (PCT)

Identifiers

PMID27212844
PMCPMC4867794
OpenAlexW2342314680

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.