Utility of Pentraxin-3 as a biomarker for diagnosis of acute appendicitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) as a diagnostic biomarker for acute appendicitis in children. The analysis of five studies demonstrates significantly elevated PTX3 levels in patients with acute appendicitis compared to healthy controls and those with non-specific abdominal pain, though PTX3 cannot distinguish perforated from non-perforated appendicitis.