C reactive protein and procalcitonin are helpful in diagnosis of serious bacterial infections in children

摘要

Question Among febrile children with suspected serious infections, how accurate are various laboratory tests? Design Systematic review.Data Sources Electronic databases, reference tracking, and consultation with experts. Study Selection and Assessment Studies were selected on six criteria: (1) design (studies of diagnostic accuracy or deriving prediction rules); (2) participants (otherwise healthy children and adolescents aged 1 month to 18 years); (3) setting (first contact ambulatory care); (4) outcome (serious infection); (5) features assessed (in first contact care); and (6) data reported (sufficient to construct a 2x2 table). Quality assessment was based on the quality assessment tool of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) criteria.Outcomes Diagnostic values (measured as sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios) of C reactive protein (CRP), pro-calcitonin, and white blood cell count.