• Jiri Zurek and Martin Vavrina.
• Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, University Children's Hospital, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
• Iran J Pediatr. 2015 Feb 1;25(1):e324.

BackgroundProcalcitonin (PCT) kinetics is a good prognosis marker in infectious diseases, but few studies of children sepsis have been performed.ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to examine kinetics of procalcitonin, to evaluate its relationship with severity and to analyze its usefulness in the prediction of multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS).Patients And MethodsProspective observational study in an 8-bed pediatric intensive care unit of a university hospital. Sixty-two children aged 0-19 years with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or septic states. The degree of severity was evaluated according pediatric logistic organ dysfunction (PELOD) score. Blood tests to determine levels of PCT were taken if the patients had the criteria of systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis. The serum to determine levels of PCT in control group has been taken from patients undergoing elective surgery.ResultsHigher values of PCT were identified in patients with PELOD score 12 and more compared to those with PELOD < 12 (P = 0.016). Similarly, higher PCT values were found in patients who developed MODS in contrast to those without MODS (P = 0.011). According to ROC analysis cut-off value of 4.05 ng/mL was found to best discriminate patients with PELOD < 12 and PELOD ≥ 12 with AUC = 0.675 (P = 0.035). Effect of procalcitonin levels on mortality was not demonstrated.ConclusionsLevels of procalcitonin from day 1 to day 5 are related to the severity and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome in children.

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