Role of prealbumin, procalcitonin, and white blood cell count in diagnosis of severe pneumonia in children

Abstract

Objective To investigate the significance of serum prealbumin, procalcitonin, and white blood cell count in the diagnosis of severe pneumonia in children. Methods 204 children with pulmonary infection hospitalized at our hospital from February, 2015 to June, 2016 were divided into a severe pneumonia group and a non-severe pneumonia group according to the severity of the disease. The levels of PAB, PCT and WBC were compared among the children with severe pneumonia, those with non-severe pneumonia children, and healthy children. Results The levels of PCT and WBC were significantly higher and the PAB level was significantly lower in the severe pneumonia group than in the non-severe pneumonia group and the control group (all P 0.05) . The Youden index of PCT was 0.415; the area under ROC curve was 0.821; the sensitivity was 63.5%; and the specificity was 76.8%; which were better than those of PAB and WBC. Conclusions PCT can be used as an effective indicator in the diagnosis of severe pneumonia in children; and with the reference to the changes of WBC and PAB levels, the differential diagnosis will be more comprehensive. Key words: Prealbumin; Procalcitonin; White blood cell count; Severe pneumonia in children; Identification