Abstract: Objective To analyze the clinical value of serum hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) level in judging the severity of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) in children and the significance of early recognition of severe MPP (SMPP). Method Seventy-five ( 75 ) children with MPP who were hospitalized from August 2019 to December 2020 were selected and divided into SMPP group and non-SMPP group. At the same time, 30 healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period served as control group. The levels of serum HGF, highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and D-dimer (D-D) among the three groups were compared. Results Twenty-six ( 26 ) cases were included in the SMPP group, including 14 males and 12 females, with a midian age of 5 . 17 ( 3 . 23 - 7 . 25 ) years. There were 49 cases in the non-SMPP group, including 22 males and 27 females, with an average age of ( 6 . 09 ± 1 . 96 ) years. There were 30 cases in the control group, including 13 males and 17 females, with an average age of ( 5 . 09 ± 1 . 64 ) years. The differences in HGF, hs-CRP, LDH, and D-D levels among SMPP group, non-SMPP group and control group were statistically significant (P< 0 . 01 ). After pairwise comparison, it was found that the levels of each index in the SMPP group were significantly higher than those in the non-SMPP group, and the non-SMPP group was significantly higher than the control group (both P< 0 . 05 ). The binary logistic regression analysis showed that LDH, D-D and HGF were independent risk factors for SMPP (P< 0 . 05 ). Combining LDH, D-D and HGF into ROC curve predicted an occurrence of SMPP at 0 . 941 ( 95 % CI: 0 . 886 - 0 . 997 ), and the sensitivity and specificity at 80 . 77 % and 97 . 96 %, respectively. The level of serum HGF in children in the SMPP group and the non-SMPP group during the recovery period was lower than that in the acute period, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions Serum HGF level has certain value in judging the severity of MPP children. Serum HGF, LDH, and D-D are independent risk factors for SMPP. Joint detection helps to identify SMPP early.

Key words: Mycoplasma pneumoniae; hepatocyte growth factor; hypersensitive C-reactive protein; lactate dehydrogenase; D-dimer; child