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Surfactant protein D: a predictor for severity of community-acquired pneumonia in children

Nagwan Yossery Saleh1, Reda Abdel Latif Ibrahem2, Amany Abdel Hakim Saleh3,4

  • 1Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University Hospital, Shebin El-kom, Egypt. drnagwan80@gmail.com.

Pediatric Research
|April 1, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) can predict community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity in children. Lower SP-D levels indicate simpler pneumonia, while higher levels correlate with severe cases and poorer outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Biomarker Discovery
  • Critical Care Medicine

Background:

  • Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) poses a significant threat to pediatric health.
  • Identifying reliable biomarkers for CAP severity is crucial for timely intervention.
  • Surfactant protein D (SP-D) has emerged as a potential indicator of pneumonia severity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the predictive value of SP-D for CAP severity in hospitalized children.
  • To correlate SP-D levels with established pneumonia severity scores.
  • To assess the association of SP-D with critical clinical outcomes in pediatric CAP.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective cohort study involving 180 children with pneumonia was conducted.
  • Children were categorized into simple pneumonia (ward) and severe pneumonia (PICU) groups.
  • Serum SP-D levels were measured at admission and correlated with WHO, PRESS, and PIROm scores.

Main Results:

  • SP-D levels were significantly lower in simple pneumonia cases compared to severe pneumonia (P < 0.001).
  • Elevated SP-D levels were observed in children with severe pneumonia, mechanical ventilation, shock, hypoxia, sepsis, and mortality (P = 0.001).
  • Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated an area under the curve of 0.741 for SP-D in predicting severity.

Conclusions:

  • Serum SP-D demonstrates significant predictive value for community-acquired pneumonia severity in pediatric patients.
  • SP-D levels correlate with established clinical severity scores and are associated with adverse outcomes.
  • SP-D serves as a valuable biomarker for assessing CAP severity in hospitalized children.
Abstract

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