Procalcitonin and white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) alterations in children with systemic inflammatory response syndrome before and after treatment

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) due to infection is an important cause of morbidity and  mortality in children. The present prospective observational study aimed to determine the correlation  between  procalcitonin (PCT) and white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and  C-reactive protein (CRP) in toddlers before and after treatment. Moreover, 50 patients aged 1 to 36 months who were hospitalized at the Pediatrics Ward in Besat Hospital, Sanansaj city, Kurdistan province Western  Iran through a census sampling method were recruited. The complete blood count (CBC) was measured via  cell counter; ESR by the Westergren method, CRP via semi quantitative method and PCT via semi quantitative  immune-chromatography method. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to estimate correlation between  WBC, ESR, CRP and PCT before and after treatment of SIRS. The results obtained show correlation coefficients between PCT and CRP as well as between PCT and ESR in the first day of trial before treatment were  determined as ‘good’ and ‘moderate’, respectively. However, there was no significant correlation between PCT and WBC. No significant correlation was found between PCT and WBC count, ESR and CRP at the third day of  treatment. It was concluded that procalcitonin and CRP is the most favorable values for confirming SIRS  diagnosis in the onset of treatment. PCT can be considered as the marker of choice for following up purposes. Key words: Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), procalcitonin, toddlers, treatment.