Comparison of Ischemia-Modified Albumin Levels in Children with Pneumonia and Bronchiolitis

Objectives: Bronchiolitis and bronchopneumonia are important causes of hospitalization in children. Many biomarkers are used in monitoring the clinical course of these diseases, grading severity, and making hospitalization decisions. This study is therefore intended to evaluate the role of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) level in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia and bronchiolitis and to compare it with other biomarkers used in the diagnosis. Methods: Thirty patients with pneumonia and thirty patients with bronchiolitis were included in our study. Patients were diagnosed based on history, physical examination, posteroanterior chest radiography, as well as serum C-reactive protein (CRP), sedimentation, procalcitonin (PCT), hemogram, and serum IMA levels. Results: In our study, the group of patients with pneumonia had higher levels of CRP, PCT, and serum IMA. CRP (p = 0.001), IMA (p = 0.009), and PCT (p = 0.101) had the highest levels of sensitivity and specificity in the group of patients with pneumonia, respectively. In patients with pneumonia, IMA is more sensitive and specific than PCT. Conclusion: In this study examining pneumonia and bronchiolitis, IMA levels have shown to be an important parameter in making the decision of differential diagnosis between pneumonia and bronchiolitis compared with other biomarkers used in the diagnosis. Given that IMA is similar to other biomarkers cost-wise, IMA may be a more utile parameter in the future.