Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42014624›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of pediatrics2026

Serial assessment of pentraxin-3 and presepsin in pediatric sepsis: a prospective study.

Nursena Kologlu Ates, Fatma Deniz Aygun, Melek Karasu, Pınar Onal, Mine Kucur, Fatih Aygun

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Article in European journal of pediatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Nursena Kologlu AtesDepartment of Pediatric of Child Health and Diseases, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye. nursena.kologlu@iuc.edu.tr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2227-5200
Fatma Deniz AygunDepartment of Pediatric of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7830-7155
Melek KarasuDepartment of Biochemistry, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
Pınar OnalDepartment of Pediatric of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7143-3132
Mine KucurDepartment of Biochemistry, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6579-1996
Fatih AygunDepartment of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6519-6583

Funding

Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit TYL-2021-35918
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Early recognition of pediatric sepsis remains challenging due to the limited diagnostic performance of conventional biomarkers. This study aimed to evaluate the kinetic profiles of pentraxin-3 (PTX3) and presepsin and their associations with the Phoenix Sepsis Score (PSS) and hemodynamic support requirements. In this prospective single-center study, 40 children with suspected sepsis and 66 healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were classified according to the Phoenix Sepsis Score (PSS) as infection (PSS < 2), sepsis (PSS ≥ 2), and septic shock. Serum PTX3, presepsin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) levels were measured at admission and at 48 h, and their temporal patterns and clinical correlations were analyzed. Baseline PTX3 levels were significantly higher in septic children than controls (p < 0.001), whereas presepsin showed no difference (p = 0.513). PTX3 varied across clinical severity groups (p < 0.001), while CRP and PCT did not. PTX3 showed high diagnostic accuracy (AUC: 0.872; 95% CI: 0.787-0.958), whereas presepsin performed poorly (AUC: 0.578). Admission PTX3 correlated with vasopressor requirement (r = 0.548, p = 0.042). At 48 h, PTX3 decreased significantly (p < 0.001), while presepsin increased (p = 0.034).Conclusion: Our results suggest that PTX3 may provide added diagnostic utility compared with presepsin for early detection and severity assessment of pediatric sepsis. Its pronounced variation across clinical categories and strong correlation with hemodynamic support indicate that PTX3 could serve as a dynamic biomarker of vascular endothelial activation and subsequent stabilization. What is Known: • PTX3 and presepsin have been proposed as emerging biomarkers for sepsis, however evidence in pediatric populations remains limited • Existing pediatric studies report heterogeneous diagnostic performance for presepsin, and data on early kinetic behavior of PTX3 are scarce What is New: • This study demonstrates distinct temporal biomarker dynamics: PTX3 levels decline rapidly with clinical stabilization, whereas presepsin shows a significant late-phase increase within 48 h • When validated against the Phoenix Sepsis Score, PTX3 exhibits higher diagnostic reliability and a stronger correlation with vasopressor requirements than presepsin, suggesting that it may serve as a more specific indicator of vascular endothelial stress.

Indexed as

Lipopolysaccharide ReceptorsPentraxinsPeptide FragmentsSepsisSeverity of Illness IndexAdolescentBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesChildChild, PreschoolC-Reactive ProteinEarly DiagnosisFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinLipopolysaccharide ReceptorsPentraxinsPeptide Fragmentspresepsin protein, humanProcalcitoninPTX3 protein, humanVasoconstrictor AgentsBiomarkerC-reactive proteinPentraxin-3PresepsinProcalcitoninSepsis

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.