Application value of ultrasound multi-parameter examination combined with serum PCT in predicting the condition of children with pneumonia and consolidation

XU Lingfei; QI Yongtao; PI Jiayang; LIU Jie; ZHU Wen; FANG Wenjing; LIN Xiumei; MA Guifeng

Abstract：Objective To investigate the predictive value of multi-parameter ultrasound combined with serum procalcitonin (PCT) in severity of pneumonia with consolidation in children. Methods A total of 69 children with pneumonia with lung con-solidation confirmed by chest CT in our hospital were selected as the observation objects, and were divided into severe pneumo-nia group (29 cases) and non-severe pneumonia group (40 cases). The general clinical data of the two groups of children were analyzed and compared. On the day of admission, serum procalcitonin (PCT) level was measured and lung ultrasound was per-formed. The ultrasound signs and LUS score were observed, and the area and maximum depth of lung consolidation were mea-sured.Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the correlation between LUS score, lung consolidation area, maxi-mum depth of lung consolidation area and serum PCT level.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyze the predictive value of parameters for severity of pneumonia in children with consolidation. Results LUS score, lung consolida-tion area, maximum depth of lung consolidation area and serum PCT level of children in severe pneumonia group were higher than those in non-severe pneumonia group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that LUS score, lung consolidation area and maximum depth of lung consolidation area were positively correlated with serum PCT level (P < 0.05). ROC curve results showed that the area under the curve of LUS score, lung consolidation area, maximum depth of lung consolidation area and serum PCT level in predicting severe pneumonia were 0.839, 0.744, 0.791 and 0.824, respectively, all of which had certain predictive efficacy, and LUS score had the highest predictive efficacy in ultrasonog-raphy. When LUS score combined with serum PCT prediction, the area under ROC curve was 0.874, which was higher than the single prediction value of each parameter. Conclusion Pulmonary ultrasound examination and serum PCT level are correlated with the severity of pneumonia with consolidation in children. LUS score in each ultrasound examination has high predictive effi-cacy in children with severe pneumonia,and the combined application of LUS score and serum PCT has higher predictive value in children with severe pneumonia than each single predictive value.