The clinical significance of the serum level changes of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Objective:To analyze the serum level changes of procalcitonin(PCT) and C-reactive protein(CRP) in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia(MPP),and its clinical significance.Methods:Forty-seven children with pneumonia were divided into the MPP group(n=24) and bacterial pneumonia(BP) group(n=23) according to the disease,and 20 physical examination healthy children were set as the control group during the same period.The serum levels of PCT and CRP among three groups were compared.The MPP group was subdivided into the acute phase and recovery phase according to the course of disease,and the levels of PCT and CRP between two phases were compared.Results:The serum levels of CRP and PCT in MPP group and BP group were significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.01),and the serum levels of CRP and PCT in MPP group were significantly lower than those in BP group(P<0.01).Among the MMP group,the serum levels of CRP and PCT in children in recovery phase were significantly lower than those in children in acute phase(P<0.01).The serum level of CRP in MPP group was set as 18.95 mg/L in recovery phase,the sensitivity and specificity of CRP in diagnosing MPP were 82.6% and 66.7%,respectively,and the area under ROC curve(AUC) was 0.743.The serum level of PCT was set as 0.36 ng/mL,the sensitivity and specificity of PCT in diagnosing MPP were 69.6% and 83.3%%,respectively,and the AUC was 0.752.The sensitivity and specificity of CRP combined with PCT in diagnosing MPP were 87.0% and 87.5%,respectively,and the AUC was 0.881.Conclusions:The serum levels of PCT and CRP in children with MPP significantly increase,which can be used as an important index in evaluating the illness and early diagnosis of MPP.