Another search for evidence (June 7, 2005).
This page is moving to a new website.
Our new EBM discussion group is asking everyone to research the following question:
In a patient (2 months – 2 years of age) with a fever > 38.5 (rectal) at what CRP
level should empiric antibiotic therapy be initiated?
This question was later clarified to
In an otherwise healthy pediatric patient between the ages of 2 months and 2 years)
with a fever of 38.5 rectal or greater, at what level of CRP should one be concerned
with a bacterial infection.
I had to confirm that CRP was C-reactive protein. Here's one possible search strategy. All
searches had a limit of ages to Infant: 1-23 months.
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C-reactive protein (788)
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CRP (353)
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#1 OR #2 (859)
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bacterial infections (36,798)
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fever (9,414)
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#3 AND #5 (226)
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#6 AND #4 (106)
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#7 AND diagnosis (84)
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#8 AND meta-analysis [pt] (no items found)
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#8 AND otherwise healthy (no items found)
I went back and looked at search #8 again. There were 5 review articles among the 84, so I
looked at that list:
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Hsiao AL, Baker MD. Fever in the new millennium: a review of recent studies of markers
of serious bacterial infection in febrile children. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2005
Feb;17(1):56-61. Review. PMID: 15659965
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van Rossum AM, Wulkan RW, Oudesluys-Murphy AM. Procalcitonin as an early marker of
infection in neonates and children. Lancet Infect Dis. 2004 Oct;4(10):620-30. Review.
PMID: 15451490
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Kuppermann N. Occult bacteremia in young febrile children. Pediatr Clin North Am. 1999
Dec;46(6):1073-109. Review. PMID: 10629675 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Nudelman R, Kagan BM. C-reactive protein in pediatrics. Adv Pediatr. 1983;30:517-47.
Review. PMID: 6369943
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[No authors listed] Rheumatic fever. Arthritis Rheum. 1970 Sep-Oct;13(5):461-72. Review.
No abstract available. PMID: 4921514
The first article reviewed six studies, listed below:
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Carrol ED, Newland P, Riordan FA, Thomson AP, Curtis N, Hart CA. Procalcitonin as a
diagnostic marker of meningococcal disease in children presenting with fever and a rash.
Arch Dis Child. 2002 Apr;86(4):282-5. PMID: 11919107
http://adc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/86/4/282
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Fernandez Lopez A, Luaces Cubells C, Garcia Garcia JJ, Fernandez Pou J; Spanish Society
of Pediatric Emergencies. Procalcitonin in pediatric emergency departments for the early
diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections in febrile infants: results of a multicenter
study and utility of a rapid qualitative test for this marker. Pediatr Infect Dis J.
2003 Oct;22(10):895-903. PMID: 14551491
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Galetto-Lacour A, Zamora SA, Gervaix A. Bedside procalcitonin and C-reactive protein
tests in children with fever without localizing signs of infection seen in a referral
center. Pediatrics. 2003 Nov;112(5):1054-60. PMID: 14595045
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/112/5/1054
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Gendrel D, Raymond J, Coste J, Moulin F, Lorrot M, Guerin S, Ravilly S, Lefevre H, Royer
C, Lacombe C, Palmer P, Bohuon C. Comparison of procalcitonin with C-reactive protein,
interleukin 6 and interferon-alpha for differentiation of bacterial vs. viral
infections. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1999 Oct;18(10):875-81. PMID: 10530583
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/112/5/1054
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Lacour AG, Gervaix A, Zamora SA, Vadas L, Lombard PR, Dayer JM, Suter S. Procalcitonin,
IL-6, IL-8, IL-1 receptor antagonist and C-reactive protein as identificators of serious
bacterial infections in children with fever without localising signs. Eur J Pediatr.
2001 Feb;160(2):95-100. PMID: 11271398
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Pulliam PN, Attia MW, Cronan KM. C-reactive protein in febrile children 1 to 36 months
of age with clinically undetectable serious bacterial infection. Pediatrics. 2001
Dec;108(6):1275-9. PMID: 11731648
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/108/6/1275
It turns out that all of these six articles were among the 84 studies in #8.
I have not yet read the six individual articles. The review article was a bit
disappointing. They didn't discuss or use likelihood ratios, so I had to calculate them
myself. They didn't mention how they identified the research studies. I suspect that they may
have excluded non-English language publications. There was no explicit statement about
conflict of interest.
It looks like CRP is a fair test, but not great. Excluding one extreme cutpoint, the LR+
ranged between 3.6 and 8.8 and the LR- ranged between 0.14 and 0.43.
Procalcitonin looked a bit better. One study showed likelihood ratios of 12 and 0.18.
The studies seemed to have prevalences hovering around 20. With a LR+ of 9, the post-test
probability is 70% and with a LR of 12, the post-test probability is 75%. With a LR- of 0.14,
the post-test probability is 3%. With a LR- of 0.18, the post-test probability is 4%.
As far as my search strategy goes, I was disappointed not to get a list down to less than
84, and if I had not found the review article, I would have had a hard time going through
such a long list of studies. One thought I had after the fact was that perhaps I should have
requested that C-reactive protein be in the title itself. All of the six studies listed above
had either C-reactive protein of procalcitonin in the title.
We'll see what the other participants come up with.