Pneumonia is a common disease in childhood. Bacterial pneumonia cannot be differentiated from viral pneumonia on the basis of clinical and radiographic findings. It was reported that serum procalcitonin concentrations were higher in bacterial infections than in viral infections. The aims of this study were to determine serum procalcitonin concentrations in children with pneumonia and to investigate the value of procalcitonin in differentiating bacterial and nonbacterial pneumonia. In 28 children with pneumonia (11 bacterial pneumonia, 17 nonbacterial pneumonia), serum procalcitonin concentrations were measured and compared to a control group. Serum procalcitonin concentration in the bacterial pneumonia group was higher than in the nonbacterial pneumonia and control groups (p<0.05). A procalcitonin concentration ³2 ng/ml had 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity, C-reactive protein CRP>50 mg/L had 100% sensitivity and 100% specifcity, and leukocyte count>15,000 per mm3 had 90% sensitivity and 100% specifcity for discriminating between bacterial and nonbacterial pneumonia. Our results indicate that serum procalcitonin concentration is useful in differentiating between bacterial and nonbacterial pneumonia.

Keywords: pnömoni, prokalsitonin, çocukluk çağı, pneumonia, procalcitonin, childhood