• Baoqin Tao, Lei Jiang, and Liang Chen.
• Emergency Department, Children's Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000 China.
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2020 Jan 1; 75: e1448.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and the prognosis of pediatric patients with severe pneumonia.MethodsChildren diagnosed with severe pneumonia (n=76) were stratified into the survival (n=58) and non-survival groups (n=18) according to their 28-day survival status and into the non-risk (n=51), risk (n=17) and high-risk (n=8) categories based on the pediatric critical illness score (PCIS). Demographic data and laboratory results were collected. Serum CGRP levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to determine the cutoff score for high CGRP levels.ResultsSerum CGRP levels were significantly higher in the survival group than in the non-survival group and were significantly higher in the non-risk group than in the risk and high-risk groups. The ROC curve for the prognostic potential of CGRP yielded a significant area under the curve (AUC) value with considerable sensitivity and specificity.ConclusionOur findings show that CGRP downregulation might be a diagnostic marker that predicts the prognosis and survival of children with severe pneumonia.

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