{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T13:43:33Z","timestamp":1792590213888,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK-ULAKBIM) - DIGITAL COMMONS JOURNALS","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/aim: Acute appendicitis (AA) is a frequent indication for emergency surgery in children; accurate diagnosis is essential to prevent complications. We examined whether serum Galectin-3 is associated with pediatric AA and quantified its diagnostic performance relative to routine inflammatory markers.\nMaterials and methods:  This prospective, single-center study was conducted in a tertiary emergency department between July 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024. Children younger than 18 years with pathologically confirmed AA were enrolled as cases; age-compatible healthy volunteers served as controls. Venous blood was obtained at presentation before any therapeutic intervention. Galectin-3 concentrations were quantified using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The primary endpoint was the ability of Galectin-3 to discriminate AA from controls. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to assess discrimination, yielding area under the curve estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs); sensitivity and specificity were quantified at prespecified thresholds.\nResults: Seventy-four children were analyzed (AA group n = 47; control group n = 27). Compared with controls, the AA group had higher Galectin-3, leukocyte and neutrophil counts, C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lower lymphocyte counts and platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR) (all p &lt; 0.05). Galectin-3 yielded an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.680 (95% CI, 0.55\u20130.81). At a threshold of &gt;130.71 pg\/mL, sensitivity was 91.49% and specificity was 33.33%; at &gt;115.71 pg\/mL, sensitivity was 100.00% with the same specificity; at &gt;254.90 pg\/mL, specificity was 92.30% with sensitivity 29.79%.\nConclusion: Serum Galectin-3 is elevated in pediatric AA and affords moderate discrimination. Owing to limited specificity at pragmatic cut-offs, Galectin-3 alone is insufficient as a standalone test; however, it may serve as a rule-out adjunct within multimodal pathways. External validation in larger, multicenter cohorts is warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.55730\/1300-0144.6085","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,18]],"date-time":"2025-10-18T09:10:11Z","timestamp":1760778611000},"page":"1311-1318","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The importance of Galectin-3 in the diagnosis of childhood acute appendicitis \u200b"],"prefix":"10.55730","volume":"55","author":[{"given":"ONUR","family":"YAL\u00c7IN","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"AYBEG\u00dcM","family":"KALYONCU AY\u00c7ENK","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"AL\u0130","family":"AYG\u00dcN","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"AHMET BURAK","family":"G\u00dcNPINAR","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"MEHMET SEYFETT\u0130N","family":"SARIBA\u015e","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"VOLKAN","family":"ALTINOK","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"TEVF\u0130K","family":"NOYAN","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"34691","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]},"container-title":["Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T13:06:54Z","timestamp":1792588014000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.tubitak.gov.tr\/medical\/vol55\/iss5\/26"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.55730\/1300-0144.6085","relation":{},"ISSN":["1300-0144"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1300-0144","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]}}}