Procalcitonin, CRP, prealbumin, and WBC in diagnosis of children with severe pneumonia

Objective To investigate the value of procalcitonin, CRP, prealbumin, and WBC in the diagnosis of children with severe pneumonia. Methods 105 children with severe pneumonia treated at our hospital from March 2015 to September 2016 were divided into a mycoplasma infection group (34 cases), a viral infection group (34 cases), and a bacterial infection group (37 cases). 30 healthy children were selected as a control group. The serum levels of PCT, CRP, PA, and WBC were detected and compared between these four groups. Results The serum levels of PCT, CRP, and WBC were significantly lower and the serum LA level was higher in the control group than the severe pneumonia group (t1=27.099,t2=33.273,t3=24.893,t4=10.307, allP<0.05). The serum levels of PCT, CRP, and WBC were significantly higher and the serum PA level was significantly lower in the mycoplasma infection group than in the virus infection group (t1=26.840,t2=15.360,t3=15.768,t4=4.912, allP<0.05). The serum levels of PCT, CRP, and WBC were significantly higher and the serum PA level was significantly lower in the bacterial infection group than in the mycoplasma infection group (t1=8.276,t2=4.219,t3=10.982,t4=12.871, allP<0.05). The positive rates of serum PCT, CRP, PA, and WBC were significantly higher in the bacterial infection group than the mycoplasma infection group (χ21=8.272,χ22=9.234,χ23=11.992,χ24=6.406, allP<0.05). The positive rate of serum PCT, CRP, PA, and WBC were significantly higher in the Mycoplasma infection group than in the viral infection group (χ21=19.125,χ22=3.985,χ23=3.985,χ24=3.886, allP<0.05). Conclusions The combined detection of PCT, CRP, PA, and WBC can be used as an important diagnostic index for severe pneumonia in children and effectively predict the types of infectious pathogens. It has a higher clinical guidance value in the diagnosis and treatment of severe pneumonia in children. Key words: Serum procalcitonin; C-reactive protein; Prealbumin; WBC; Severe pneumonia in children; Clinical diagnosis