{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,12]],"date-time":"2026-10-12T23:13:12Z","timestamp":1791846792763,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,8]],"date-time":"2021-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1620432000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Early diagnosis and treatment of bacterial meningitis in children are essential, due to the high mortality and morbidity rates. However, lumbar puncture is often difficult, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture takes time. This meta-analysis aims to determine the diagnostic accuracy of blood procalcitonin for detecting bacterial meningitis in children. We conducted a systematic search on electronic databases to identify relevant studies. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated, and a hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) were determined. Eighteen studies with 1462 children were included in the analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and the DOR of blood procalcitonin for detecting bacterial meningitis were 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78\u20130.93); 0.85 (95% CI: 0.75\u20130.91), and 35.85 (95% CI: 10.68\u2013120.28), respectively. The AUC for blood procalcitonin was 0.921. Blood procalcitonin also showed higher diagnostic accuracy for detecting bacterial meningitis than other conventional biomarkers, including serum C-reactive protein and leukocyte count, CSF leukocyte and neutrophil count, and CSF protein and glucose levels. Blood procalcitonin can be a good supplemental biomarker with high diagnostic accuracy in detecting bacterial meningitis in children.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics11050846","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,9]],"date-time":"2021-05-09T21:32:46Z","timestamp":1620595966000},"page":"846","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Blood Procalcitonin Level as a Diagnostic Marker of Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Heeyeon","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Severance Children\u2019s Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yun-Ho","family":"Roh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biostatistics Collaboration Unit, Department of Biomedical Systems Informatics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8361-9815","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seo-Hee","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Severance Children\u2019s Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(09)70306-8","article-title":"Acute bacterial meningitis in infants and children","volume":"10","author":"Kim","year":"2010","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. 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