Evaluation of the efficiency of the systemic immune-inflammation index in differentiating parapneumonic effusion from empyema.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and other biomarkers in distinguishing parapneumonic effusion (PPE) and empyema. METHODS: Patients who were thought to have pleural effusion secondary to pneumonia in the pediatric emergency department (PED) between 2004 and 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups as empyema and PPE. The efficacy of infection markers in predicting empyema was compared. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients (59.3% male) were included in the study. Forty-three (72.9%) patients were in the PPE and 16 (27.1%) were in the empyema group. Length of hospital stay and pleural fluid thickness measured with thoracic ultrasonography were significantly higher in the empyema group (p = 0.018 and p = 0.002, respectively). The mean SII was 1902.73 ± 1588.87 in PPE patients, while it was 6899.98 ± 6678 in empyema patients (p = 0.009). C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC) count, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) ​​were significantly higher in the empyema group; absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and lymphocyte-monocytes ratio (LMR) were significantly lower than the PPE group. When the best cut-off values of inflammation markers are determined according to the area under the curve, the highest odds ratios suggesting empyema were found in SII, LMR, CRP, and ANC, respectively. CONCLUSION: Inflammation markers can be useful in predicting empyema. The best markers were found to be SII, LMR, CRP, and ANC. High SII is one of the practical diagnostic markers that can be used differentiate empyema from PPE in PED.

Retrospective Evaluation of Acute Headache in Pediatric Emergency Department: Etiologies, Red Flags, and Neuroimaging.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to describe the etiologies of acute headache presenting to the pediatric emergency department, determine their clinical characteristics, the prevalence of red flag findings and neuroimaging and identify predictors of headaches because of serious intracranial diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients from 2 to 18 years of age who visited pediatric emergency department with a chief complaint of headache between January 1, 2016 and August 31, 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the 558 patients included in the study was 11.17±3.78 years, and 290 (52%) were female. The most common cause of acute headache was head and neck area infections (except central nervous system infections) in 355 (63.6%) patients. Forty patients (7.2%) had a headache because of serious intracranial diseases. According to binary logistic regression analysis, the findings that predicted a serious intracranial diseases were abnormal neurological physical examination [odds ratio (OR): 187.57; 95% confidence interval (CI): 32.67-1076.64], recent onset or suddenly severe headache (OR: 14.41; 95% CI: 3.14-65.91), and vomiting (OR: 9.42; 95% CI: 1.90-46.63). Neuroimaging was performed in 63 (11.3%) patients, and 7 (1.25%) had a pathology requiring emergency treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of acute headaches were evaluated as secondary headache. The most common cause of acute headache was head and neck area infections. Abnormal neurological physical examination, recent onset or suddenly severe headache, and vomiting were the most useful red flags for predicting serious intracranial diseases. The requirement for neuroimaging should be evaluated individually for each patient.