APMAdvances in Precision Medicine2424-85922424-9106WHIOCE PUBLISHING PTE. LTD.10.18063/APM.v11i5.2039ArticleCorrelation Between Serum Procalcitonin Levels and the Severity of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injuryhttps://artdesignp.com/journal/APM/11/5/10.18063/APM.v11i5.2039LiuShan,WanLinfang20261152026-05-26Objective: To investigate the correlation between serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels and the severity of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Clinical data of 370 pediatric patients with TBI admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, Jingzhou First People’s Hospital between January 2018 and December 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, patients were divided into a mild TBI group (GCS 13–15, n = 250) and a moderate-to-severe TBI group (GCS 3–12, n = 120). Serum levels of PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and neutrophil percentage (N%) within 24 hours of admission were compared between the two groups. The correlation between PCT and GCS score was analyzed. Results: PCT levels in the moderate-to-severe group were significantly higher than those in the mild group [1.82 (0.65, 3.46) vs. 0.06 (0.03, 0.12) μg/L, p < 0.001]. CRP, WBC, and N% were also significantly elevated in the moderate-to-severe group [18.6 (9.4, 34.2) vs. 3.2 (1.5, 6.8) mg/L; 14.7 ± 3.8 vs. 8.3 ± 2.1×109/L; 82.3 ± 6.7% vs. 64.2 ± 5.8%, all p < 0.001]. ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for PCT in discriminating moderate-to-severe TBI was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.88–0.96), significantly outperforming CRP (AUC = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.80–0.90; DeLong test, Z = 2.84, p = 0.004). PCT levels were negatively correlated with GCS scores (r = −0.542, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Serum PCT levels are negatively correlated with GCS scores in children with TBI, with higher PCT levels indicating greater injury severity. PCT demonstrates excellent diagnostic performance for discriminating moderate-to-severe TBI (AUC = 0.92), superior to CRP (AUC = 0.85), and may serve as a valuable adjunctive biomarker for assessing injury severity in this population.Procalcitonin,Children,Traumatic brain injury,Glasgow coma scale,Severity

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