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Pleural antigen assay in the diagnosis of pediatric pneumococcal empyema

Federico Martinón-Torres1, Silvia Dosil-Gallardo, María Luisa Perez del Molino-Bernal

  • 1Pediatric Critical Care Unit, Servicio de Críticos, Intermedios y Urgencias Pediátricas, Area de Pediatria, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. federico.martinon.torres@sergas.es

Journal of Critical Care
|July 9, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Rapid pneumococcal antigen detection (PAD) in pleural fluid is a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tool for childhood empyema, offering quick bedside results.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiology
  • Diagnostic Medicine

Background:

  • Empyema is a serious infection in children.
  • Accurate and rapid diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment.
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of pediatric empyema.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of rapid pneumococcal antigen detection (PAD) in pleural fluid.
  • To assess PAD's utility in diagnosing pneumococcal empyema in children.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study in a pediatric intensive care unit.
  • Included children aged 1 month to 14 years with empyema.
  • Compared PAD with conventional microbiological culture (CMC) and real-time polymerase chain reactions (RTPs).

Main Results:

  • PAD demonstrated high diagnostic performance: 96% sensitivity, 100% specificity.
  • Positive predictive value was 100%, with a Youden index of 0.96.
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae was identified in 51% of cases.

Conclusions:

  • PAD is a rapid, simple, sensitive, and reliable method for diagnosing pneumococcal empyema.
  • The test is suitable for bedside use in pediatric patients.
  • PAD aids in timely diagnosis and management of childhood empyema.
Abstract

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