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Abstract
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) is a broad term that refers to a predominantly erial infection that may occur any where from the kidney and perinephric fascia to the hral meatus(1) It is one of the most common causes of unexplained fever in neonates/2 It is common and results in significant morbidity in infants and children.(3)
The distinction between upper and lower UTIs is essential because renal involvement can induce parenchymal scarring that may lead to arterial hypertension and chronic renal failure, so pyelonephritis requires more aggressive investigations, therapy and follow up than does lower UTIs.(22,70)
The aim of our study was to measure Procalcitonin (PCT) level in children with urinary tract infections, to compare PCT with other inflammatory markers in these cases and to evaluate the ability of PCT to predict pyelonephritis.
The study was conducted on 25 patients with urinary tract infections documented by mid-stream culture and colony count, ten cases proved to have acute pyelonephritis, the other fifteen children had lower UTIs. Ten healthy children served as a control group. Any patient having extrarenal infection known to affect PCT level was excluded.
All patients were subjected to thorough history taking, clinical examination and laboratory investigations including urine analysis, mid stream culture and colony count, blood examination includes total leukocytic count, band cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and renal function tests including blood urea and serum creatinine. Serum PCT was estimated for all patients and control group using the semiquantitative rapid test (PCT-Q).