Background: Acute bronchiolitis is the inflammation of the
bronchioles, which is most typically caused by a virus and is common
in children under the age of two. The aim of this study was to evaluate
if serum albumin levels on admission are associated with severity of
illness in infants with Acute bronchiolitis according to their Modified
Tal score. Methods: This single-center, case control observational
study included 50 infants with acute bronchiolitis and 50 healthy infants
as a control group. All cases were subjected to full history taking,
complete clinical examination, modified Tal score and laboratory
investigations as complete blood count, arterial blood gases, C reactive
protein and serum albumin level. Results: Bronchiolitis group included
26 females and 24 males; their mean age was 7.5±4.8 months. There
was no statistical difference between cases and control regarding their
age, sex, gestational age, nutritional history or age of weaning. Most
cases (42%) had mild disease, 38% of cases had moderate disease and
20% of cases had severe disease. Bronchiolitis group had statistically
higher serum albumin compared to control group. Cases with severe
bronchiolitis had statistically lower albumin level compared with
moderate and mild cases. Serum albumin could detect cases with acute
bronchiolitis from controls; AUC was 0.724 (CI: 0.626-0.822), p |
