A Retrospective Assessment of CRP Levels in Children with Acute Bronchiolitis: An Observational Study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency of elevated CRP in children with acute bronchiolitis.

Material & methods: A retrospective assessment of children with acute bronchiolitis admitted to Department of Pediatrics, GS Medical College, Pilkhuwa, Uttar Pradesh. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data, and outcomes were collected. Patients with high CRP were compared with those with normal levels for the duration of 12 months. Total 200 patients were included in the study.

Results: Of 200 patients, 120 (60%) were males. Median presentation age was 3.9 (interquartile range (IQR), 1.27-12.33) months. The most common clinical presentation was cough (160 (80%) patients) followed by fever (152 (76%) patients). Median CRP level was 10.5 (IQR, 2.8-35.1) mg/L. CRP was high in 150 (75%) patients. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was detected in 70 patients. 170/200 patients had positive chest X-ray. Antibiotics were used in 140/20 patients. The significant variables were tested for multicollinearity (VIF > 8) between each other and were put into a logistic regression model. Accordingly, fever (P = 0.018) and hemoglobin level (P = 0.003) were found to be the independent predictor for high CRP levels.

Conclusion: This study showed that most patients with acute bronchiolitis had high rate of elevated CRP values that did not correlate with the rate of bacterial coinfection. Children with high CRP levels were older at presentation, presented with more fever and cough, and had a lower hemoglobin level despite that those factors were previously reported to be associated with the disease severity and bacterial coinfection.