The Role of Presepsin as a Biomarker of Sepsis in Children: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives Biomarkers in sepsis are an arena of avid research as they can facilitate timely diagnosis and help reduce mortality. Presepsin is a promising candidate with good diagnostic performance reported in adult and neonatal studies. However, there is no clear consensus about its utility in the pediatric age group. This study aimed to synthesize scientific evidence regarding the diagnostic and prognostic performance of presepsin in pediatric sepsis. Data Sources A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, Google Scholar, and Scopus to identify relevant studies reporting the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of presepsin. Study Selection Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we retrieved all controlled trials and observational studies on presepsin as a biomarker in children aged <19 years with sepsis. Data Extraction Two authors independently performed study screening, data extraction, and quality assessment of the included studies. Data Synthesis Among the 267 citations identified, a total of nine relevant studies were included in the final analysis. The pooled diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of presepsin were 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.97–1.00) and 0.88 (95% CI; 0.83–0.92), respectively, with a diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 28.15 (95% CI; 0.74–1065.67) and area under the curve (AUC) in summary receiver operating curve of 0.89. Prognostic accuracy for presepsin had a sensitivity of 0.64 (95% CI; 0.35–1.0), specificity of 0.62 (95% CI; 0.44–0.87), and DOR of 3.3 (95% CI; 0.20–53.43). For procalcitonin, the pooled sensitivity for diagnostic accuracy was 0.97 (95% CI; 0.94–1.00), specificity was 0.76 (95% CI; 0.69–0.82), DOR was 10.53 (95% CI; 5.31–20.88), and AUC was 0.81. Conclusion Presepsin has good diagnostic accuracy with high sensitivity and specificity. Its prognostic accuracy in predicting mortality is low.