Bagcilar Medical Bulletin (Sep 2024)

Diagnostic Value of Pentraxin-3 in COVID-19 Pediatric Patients

  • Didem Öcal Topçu,
  • Kamil Şahin,
  • Murat Elevli,
  • İbrahim Yılmaz,
  • Gülşen Akkoç

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4274/BMB.galenos.2024.2024-03-024
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 3
pp. 148 – 155

Abstract

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Objective: Many studies have investigated the relationship of hematological, biochemical, immunological, and inflammatory markers with clinical severity during severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In this study, we determined the use of Pentraxin-3 as an acute phase marker in infection diagnosis, follow-up, and prognosis. Method: The study was initiated after ethics committee approval and consent from the patients and their relatives. A total of 167 children, including 103 outpatients and inpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and a control group consisting of 64 healthy children, were included in the study. The treatments, symptoms, radiological pneumonia findings, leukocyte count, absolute lymphocyte and neutrophil counts, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein (CRP) and Pentraxin-3 values of the patients were recorded and compared with those of the control group. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the patient and control groups in terms of age and gender (p>0.05). The mean absolute neutrophil and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratios of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group. CRP, ferritin averages, and CRP >5 mg/L ratio of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Although Pentraxin-3 values were higher in the study group, no statistically significant difference was found between the control group and the study group. Ferritin levels were found to be significantly higher in inpatients than in the outpatient group. Conclusion: We found high CRP, absolute neutrophil count, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte count, and platelet count in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection. It should be noted that patients with high ferritin values may require inpatient treatment at the time of admission. Although Pentraxin-3 values were higher in the study group, no statistically significant difference was found. Further studies with larger patient groups are needed to use Pentraxin-3 as a prognostic indicator in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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