Objective To investigate the expression of 5 extracellular nucleotidase(CD73)and hypoxia-inducing factor 1α(HIF-1α)in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)in children with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS)and their clinical signifi-cance.Methods One hundred and seventeen children with ARDS aduitted to Guang'an Peoples Hospital from February 2022 to April 2023 were selected as the study subjects and divided into mild group(n=27),moderate group(n=38)and severe group(n=52)according to the se-verity of the disease.The expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs and pulmonary infection index(CPIS)scores of the three groups were compared.Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between CD73 and HIF-1α expression levels and CPIS score.After 3 months of follow-up after treatment,the children were divided into survival group(n=34)and death group(n=83)according to their sur-vival status,and the expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs were compared between the two groups.The value expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs in prognosis of ARDS children were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results The ex-pression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs in mild group were 0.44±0.06,0.60±0.11,(4.82±0.81)points,respectively,which were significantly lower than those in moderate group[0.53±0.10,0.76±0.14,(6.33±1.02)points]and severe group[0.62±0.07,0.89±0.08,(7.03±1.14)points],the expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs in moderate group were significantly lower than those in severe group,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed that the relative expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α were significantly positively correlated with CPIS scores(r=0.623,0.687,P<0.05).The expression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs in survival group were significantly lower than those in death group(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of CD73 and HIF-1α alone and combined to predict the prognosis of ARDS children were 79.41%,85.29%and 94.12%,and the area under the curve(AUC)was 0.746,0.801 and 0.843,respectively.The combined prediction value was higher.Conclusion The ex-pression levels of CD73 and HIF-1α in PBMCs are increased with the increase of disease severity,and are significantly correlated with pulmonary infection in children with ARDS.They have high diagnostic value for the prognosis of children with ARDS.