Serum Procalcitonin and Outcomes in Severe Pediatric Pneumonia: A Secondary Analysis of An Observational Multicenter Study

Clicks: 16
ID: 331485
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #51 of 145 articles by views in journal of the pediatric infectious diseases society

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 145 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Background Evidence on procalcitonin’s role in the management of severe pediatric pneumonia is limited. This study aims to determine the association between procalcitonin and severity of illness in children with severe pneumonia. Methods In this secondary analysis of a multi-center study in Asia, peak serum procalcitonin (measured within 5 days) was categorized into four groups (<0.5, 0.5–2.0, 2.0–10.0, >10.0 ng/mL). The primary outcome was mortality and secondary outcomes were acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), septic shock, and multiorgan dysfunction. Area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) analysis was used to assess the association of peak procalcitonin levels with primary and secondary outcomes. Results Of 846 patients, 344 had early procalcitonin data. Mortality increased in groups with higher peak procalcitonin levels [8/162 (4.9%), 3/69 (4.4%), 8/55 (14.6%) vs. 11/58 (19.0%); p=0.002]. The proportion of patients with ARDS [23/162 (14.2%), 14/69 (20.3%), 10/55 (18.2%) vs. 25/58 (43.1%); p<0.001], septic shock [8/162 (4.9%), 10/69 (14.5%), 13/55 (23.2%) vs. 32/58 (55.2%); p<0.001], multiorgan failure [19/162 (11.7%), 13/69 (18.8%), 12/55 (21.4%) vs. 23/58 (39.7%); p<0.001] was also higher in groups with higher peak procalcitonin levels. The AUROC for procalcitonin showed moderate discrimination for mortality [0.69 (95%CI 0.58, 0.80)] and good discrimination for septic shock [0.81 (95%CI 0.76, 0.87)]. Conclusion In critically ill children with severe pneumonia, higher serum procalcitonin was associated with mortality, ARDS, septic shock and multi-organ dysfunction. Procalcitonin alone is insufficient for clinical decision-making and should be interpreted alongside clinical assessment
Reference Key
openalex_W7220723224 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Judith Ju‐Ming Wong, Saptadi Yuliarto, Minchaya Rujirojampai, Pei Chuen Lee, 刘春峰, Hongxing Dang, Xuemei Zhu, Jacqueline Soo May Ong, Pustika Efar, Chin Seng Gan, Alvin Hui, Justin Qi Yuee Wang, Phuc Huu Phan, Lijia Fan, Insu Choi, Qalab Abbas, Rujipat Samransamruajkit, Hwa Jin Cho, Suresh Kumar Angurana, Wei Xu, Jan Hau Lee
Journal journal of the pediatric infectious diseases society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jpids/piag108
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piag108
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.