Procalcitonin-to-Albumin Ratio vs. C-reactive Protein-to-Albumin Ratio in Predicting Sepsis and Its Severity in Children: A Prospective Observational Study

The study demonstrates that the PAR and CAR are valuable diagnostic markers for predicting sepsis in children. On the day of admission, PAR showed a higher specificity (95.61%) compared to CAR (64.21%), making it a reliable marker for ruling in sepsis, while CAR exhibited greater sensitivity (67.36%) for detecting cases. The ROC curve analysis revealed AUC values of 0.73 for PAR and 0.67 for CAR, indicating moderate diagnostic accuracy for both. These findings suggest that PAR and CAR can complement traditional markers in diagnosing pediatric sepsis and its severity, with PAR being particularly useful in identifying more severe cases. Further research is warranted to validate these markers and explore their prognostic utility over time.