ArticleBMC pediatrics2022
Role of procalcitonin in diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia in Children.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serum procalcitonin as a predictor of severity of pneumonia in under-five children: A prospective observational study.World journal of methodology · 2026Article
- Host-response biomarker MxA for etiological discrimination of pediatric lower respiratory tract infections: implications for diagnostic study design.Translational pediatrics · 2026Review
- A Paediatric Perspective: Opportunities and Challenges in Emergency Department Antimicrobial Stewardship.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The impact of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic treatment on treatment duration and hospital costs in children-balancing benefits and burdens.Translational pediatrics · 2025Article
- An international standardization to study the clinical use of lung ultrasound to discriminate viral, bacterial and atypical pneumonia in children with community acquired pneumonia.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Analysis of risk factors for plastic bronchitis induced by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Diagnostic and prognostic utility of salivary and serum procalcitonin, interleukin-6, and interleukin-10 in pediatric pneumonia: a prospective case-control study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Procalcitonin and Presepsin as Markers of Infectious Respiratory Diseases in Children: A Scoping Review of the Literature.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Radiographic pneumonia in young febrile infants presenting to the emergency department: secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Five Host Inflammatory Biomarkers in Early Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Critically Ill Children: A Prospective Single Center Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A qualitative investigation of paediatric intensive care staff attitudes towards the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infection in the molecular diagnostics era.Intensive care medicine. Paediatric and neonatal · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe role of serum Procalcitonin (PCT) in adults in diagnosis of Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is well established, however, role in pediatric CAP remains controversial.
objectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the utility of serum procalcitonin in differentiating bacterial community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection from non-bacterial respiratory infection in children; radiologically confirmed pneumonia was used as the reference. In addition, we assessed the utility of adding the PCT assay to the clinical criteria for diagnosis of pneumonia. STUDY
designSubanalysis of a larger prospective,multicentriccohort study.
participantsChildren, 2 months to 59 months of age, attending paediatric OPD of 5 urban tertiary care hospitals, suffering from acute respiratory infection (ARI).
interventionDetailed clinical history and examination findings of enrolled children were recorded on predesigned case record form. Samples for PCT were obtained at admission and were measured centrally at the end of the study except for one site using VIDAS® B.R.A.H.M.S PCT kit (Biomerieux SA, France). OUTCOMES: Sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin for diagnosis of radiologically confirmed pneumonia.
resultsSerum Procalcitonin was measured in 370 patients; median (IQR) age of these children being 12 (7, 22) months, 235 (63.5%) were boys. The median (IQR) serum procalcitonin concentration was 0.1(0.05, 0.4) ng/mL.Sensitivity and specificity of raised PCT (> 0.5 ng/mL) for pneumonia as per any CXR abnormalities were 29.7% and87.5%,(P < 0.001) respectively. Raised PCT was also significantly associated with consolidation (34.5%,79.2%,P < 0.02)and pleural effusion(54.6%,79%,P < 001). Adding PCT to the existing clinical criteria of WHO did not improve the sensitivity for diagnosis of pneumonia. PCT was significantly higher in children with severe pneumonia.
conclusionPositive PCT (> 0.5 ng/mL) is significantly associated with radiographic pneumonia but not with pneumonia based on WHO criteria.However, it can act as a surrogate marker for severe pneumonia.
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