Diagnostic value of serum pentraxin 3 level in children with acute appendicitis
Levent Duman1, Özkan Cesur1, Duygu Kumbul Doğuç2
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Medicine, Isparta-Turkey.
Insights
Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) shows high diagnostic value for acute appendicitis in children. Elevated PTX3 levels aid in diagnosing appendicitis and predicting disease progression.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Clinical Chemistry
- Inflammatory Biomarkers
Background:
- Appendicitis is a common surgical emergency in children, necessitating early diagnosis to prevent complications.
- Delayed diagnosis of appendicitis in pediatric patients increases the risk of complicated appendicitis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) levels in pediatric acute appendicitis.
- To investigate the correlation between PTX3 levels and disease progression in children with appendicitis.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 70 children, categorized into appendicitis (n=37), abdominal pain (n=25), and control (n=8) groups.
- Collected demographic data, medical history, symptom onset to blood sampling time, and operative/pathological findings.
- Measured white blood cell (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), and PTX3 levels.
Main Results:
- Significantly elevated mean WBC, CRP, and PTX3 levels were observed in the appendicitis group (p<0.001).
- PTX3 demonstrated the highest diagnostic value (AUC=0.828), specificity (88%), and positive predictive value (90%) for appendicitis.
- PTX3 levels showed a significant correlation with disease progression time (p<0.05), unlike WBC and CRP.
Conclusions:
- Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) serves as a valuable inflammatory biomarker for diagnosing acute appendicitis in children.
- PTX3 levels are useful in predicting the progression of appendicitis, aiding clinical management.
Background:
Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies. Early diagnosis of appendicitis is important in children because any delay in treatment substantially leads to complicated appendicitis. In this study, we aimed to test the diagnostic value of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) level in children with acute appendicitis and to investigate whether there is a relationship between the progression of the disease and PTX3 level.
Methods:
This prospective study included 70 children. They were divided into three groups as follows: group 1 (appendicitis; n=37), group 2 (abdominal pain; n=25), group 3 (control; n=8). Demographic data, medical history, the time from the onset of symptoms to blood sampling, operative and pathological findings of the patients were noted, and white blood cell (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and PTX3 values were measured.
Results:
The mean WBC, CRP and PTX3 values were found to be significantly increased in the appendicitis group (p<0.001). PTX3 has the highest diagnostic value (AUC=0.828), specificity (88%) and positive predictive value (90%) in the appendicitis group. WBC values did not show a significant correlation with the time periods (p=0.999). The mean CRP level of the appendicitis group in 24-48 hours was found to be higher than in 0-24 hours, but this was marginally significant (p=0.068). On the other hand, PTX3 value was significantly correlated with the time periods (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
This study showed that PTX3 is a valuable inflammatory biomarker in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and also documented that PTX3 is useful for predicting the progression of the disease.
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