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BMC Infectious Diseases
Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Septicemia | Research article

Presepsin as a diagnostic marker of sepsis in children and adolescents: a systemic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Seo Hee Yoon, Eun Hwa Kim, Ha Yan Kim, Jong Gyun Ahn

Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Early diagnosis of sepsis in pediatric patients is vital but remains a major challenge. Previous studies showed that presepsin is potentially a reliable diagnostic biomarker for sepsis in adult and neonates. However, there is no pooled analysis of its efficacy as a diagnostic biomarker for sepsis in children. The aims of the present meta-analysis were to assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of presepsin in pediatric sepsis and compare it to those for C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT).

Methods

A systematic literature search was performed in Medline/Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ISI Web of Science to identify relevant studies reporting the diagnostic accuracy of presepsin in patients with pediatric sepsis. Sensitivities and specificities were pooled by bivariate meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was evaluated by χ2 test.

Results

We identified 129 studies in total. Most were disqualified on the basis of their titles/abstracts and duplication. Four studies were included in the final analysis. They comprised 308 patients aged between 1 mo and 18 y. The pooled diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of presepsin were 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74–0.99) and 0.71 (95% CI: 0.35–0.92), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio (LR), and negative LR of presepsin were 32.87 (95% CI: 2.12–510.09), 3.24 (95% CI, 1.14–12.38), and 0.08 (95% CI, 0.01–0.74), respectively. Heterogeneity was found in both sensitivity (χ2 = 11.17; P = 0.011) and specificity (χ2 = 65.78; P < 0.001). No threshold effect was identified among the studies (r = − 0.938). The pooled sensitivity of presepsin (0.94) was higher than that of CRP (0.51) and PCT (0.76), whereas the overall specificity of presepsin (0.71) was lower than that of CRP (0.81) and PCT (0.76). The AUC of presepsin (0.925) was higher than that of CRP (0.715) and PCT (0.820).

Conclusion

Currently available evidence indicates that presepsin has higher sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy, but lower specificity, than PCT or CRP in detecting sepsis in children. However, these results must be carefully interpreted as the number of studies included was small and the studies were statistically heterogeneous.
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Metadata
Title
Presepsin as a diagnostic marker of sepsis in children and adolescents: a systemic review and meta-analysis
Authors
Seo Hee Yoon
Eun Hwa Kim
Ha Yan Kim
Jong Gyun Ahn
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Infectious Diseases / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2334
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-019-4397-1

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