It aimed to determine the clinical value of serum KL-6, SP-D and sRAGE levels as a prognostic marker in children with COVID-19 patients.. This study was planned as a case-control study with patients hospitalized in the Haseki Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Infection Ward. A total of 150 children, including at least 30 patients in each group were included in the study. The study group was divided into three groups according to COVID-19 WHO clinical progression Scale: uninfected (Group 1), mild (Group 2) and moderate (group 3). In order to investigate the relationship between disease severity and alveolar damage, serum KL-6, SP-D and sRAGE levels and high sensitive C-reactive protein were measured. These biomarkers levels were compared between three groups.
COVID-19 causes a wide spectrum of clinical illness, from upper respiratory symptoms to severe respiratory failure and death. Several plasma biomarkers -such as IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and ferritin, among others- have been studied as markers of disease severity and prognosis. Besides, as alveolar damage biomarkers such as Surfactant protein D (SP-D), Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), and soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation end products (sRAGE) can be used in lung diseases as well as COVID-19 pneumonia. The investigators hypothesized that serum SP-D, KL-6 and sRAGE levels increases in the setting of COVID-19 pneumonia. In this prospective study the investigators aimed to determine the clinical value of serum KL-6, SP-D and sRAGE levels as a prognostic marker in children with COVID-19 patients. In the literature review, it has been determined that there is no study conducted or published in pediatric patients for this purpose, and it is aimed that our study will be a pioneer study on this subject.