BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is one of the most common surgical emergencies. Early diagnosis of appendicitis is important in children because any delay in treatment substantially leads to complicated appendicitis. In this study, we aimed to test the diagnostic value of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) level in children with acute appendicitis and to investigate whether there is a relationship between the progression of the disease and PTX3 level. METHODS: This prospective study included 70 children. They were divided into three groups as follows: group 1 (appendicitis; n=37), group 2 (abdominal pain; n=25), group 3 (control; n=8). Demographic data, medical history, the time from the onset of symptoms to blood sampling, operative and pathological findings of the patients were noted, and white blood cell (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and PTX3 values were measured. RESULTS: The mean WBC, CRP and PTX3 values were found to be significantly increased in the appendicitis group (p<0.001). PTX3 has the highest diagnostic value (AUC=0.828), specificity (88%) and positive predictive value (90%) in the appendicitis group. WBC values did not show a significant correlation with the time periods (p=0.999). The mean CRP level of the appendicitis group in 24-48 hours was found to be higher than in 0-24 hours, but this was marginally significant (p=0.068). On the other hand, PTX3 value was significantly correlated with the time periods (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed that PTX3 is a valuable inflammatory biomarker in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and also documented that PTX3 is useful for predicting the progression of the disease.

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A AB BS ST TR RA AC CT T O Ob bj je ec ct ti iv ve e: : A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the clinical course of appendicitis in children. M Ma at te er ri ia al l a an nd d M Me et th ho od ds s: : Patients between 6 and 18 years of age, who had undergone appendectomy in the last 2 years, were evaluated for age, sex, BMI, time from the beginning of complaints to diagnosis, acute or perforated appendicitis, duration of hospitalization and complications retrospectively. BMI was evaluated according to percentiles developed for Turkish children between 6 and 18 years of age. Patients with percentiles between 10 to 75 were accepted as the normal BMI group, lower than 10 was the low BMI group and more than 75 was assessed as the high BMI group. R Re es su ul lt ts s: : Ninety-six patients were included in the study. The median age was 13 (min: 6, max:16) in the normal BMI group [n=37, male/female (M/F)=1.84], 12 (6-16) in the low BMI group (n=38, M/F=1.53) and 9 (6-15) in the high BMI group (n=21, M/F=3.2). The acute/perforated appendicitis ratios were 3.1, 2.8 and 1.3, respectively in the normal, low and high BMI groups. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the time from the beginning of complaints to diagnosis and duration of hospitalization (p>0.05). Although complication rates showed no difference between the normal and low BMI groups, the high BMI group had a higher incidence of complications compared to the normal and low BMI groups (p=0.04 and p=0.018,respectively). The follow-up period of the patients were 2 months to 2 years and the most common complication was wound infection. C Co on nc cl lu us si io on n: : Children with high BMI have higher complication rates during the clinical course of appendicitis compared to children with low and normal BMI. K Ke ey y W Wo or rd ds s: : Body mass index; appendicitis; child Ö ÖZ ZE ET T A Am ma aç ç: : Apendektomi yapılan çocuklarda beden kitle indeksi (BKİ)'nin klinik seyire etkisini değerlendirmek amacıyla retrospektif bir çalışma yapılmıştır. G Ge er re eç ç v ve e Y Yö ön nt te em ml le er r: : Son 2 yıl içeri-sinde apendektomi yapılan 6-18 yaş aralığındaki olgular; yaş, cinsiyet, BKİ, şikâyetlerin başla-masından tanı anına kadar geçen süre, akut veya perfore apandisit olma durumu, yatış süresi ve komplikasyonlar açısından incelenmiştir. BKİ değerleri 6-18 yaş Türk çocukları için geliştirilen yaşa göre persentil eğirlerine göre değerlendirildi. Persentil değerleri 10-75 arası olan hastalar normal BKİ grubunu, 10'nun altında olanlar düşük BKİ grubunu, 75 üzerinde olanlar ise yüksek BKİ grubunu oluşturdu. B Bu ul lg gu ul la ar r: : Çalışmaya 96 hasta dâhil edildi. Normal BKİ grubunda [n: 37, erkek/kız (E/K):1,84] yaş ortancası 13 [çeyrekler arası aralık (çaa): 11-14], düşük BKİ grubunda (n: 38, E/K: 1,53) 12 (çaa: 10,5-14) ve yüksek BKİ grubunda (n:21, E/K: 3,2) 9 (çaa:7-10,5) idi. Normal, düşük ve yüksek BKİ gruplarında akut/perfore apandisit oranları sırasıyla 3,1, 2,8 ve 1,3 olara...