CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS SCALE FOR NEUROENDOCRINE CELL HYPERPLASIA IN INFANTS: INFORMATIVENESS AND DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE

Neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI) is an interstitial lung disease of unknown etiology that develops in the first year of life and manifests itself as persistent tachypnea syndrome. The aim of the study was to determine the diagnostic value of the clinical scale for the diagnosis of NEHI in comparison with computed tomography (CT) data of the chest organs and for differential diagnosis with acute bronchiolitis (AB)/community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Materials and methods of research: a multicenter case-control study of children aged 21 days of life to 12 months was carried out: – 83 children with NEHI and 83 infants with AB or CAP. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of this scale for differential diagnosis with AB/CAP, the results of the assessment according to the proposed scale were compared in patients with NEHI (study group) and patients with AB/CAP (control group) on the day of treatment and after 3 weeks. Results: the sensitivity of the clinical scale for the diagnosis of NEHI when compared with the CT data of the chest organs was 85.5%. In the differential diagnosis of NEHI with AB/CAP on the day of treatment, the sensitivity of the clinical scale for the diagnosis of NEHI was 85.5%, the specificity was 80.7%; when re-evaluated after 3 weeks, the accuracy of the scale increased from 83.1% to 91.6%, the specificity – from 80.7% to 97.6%. Diagnosis on a scale after 3 weeks reduced the possibility of overdiagnosis of NEHI from 19.3% to 2.4%. Conclusions: the clinical scale for the diagnosis of NEHI has a high diagnostic value in comparison with the results of CT scan of the chest organs and for differential diagnosis with AB/CAP, especially when re-evaluating. © 2022, Pediatria Ltd. All rights reserved.