High serum procalcitonin concentrations in patients with sepsis and infection

Abstract

High concentrations of calcitonin-like immunoreactivity have been found in the blood of patients with various extrathyroid diseases. By means of a monoclonal immunoradiometric assay for calcitonin precursors, we have measured serum concentrations of procalcitonin in patients with various bacterial and viral infections. 79 children (newborn to age 12 years) in hospital with suspected infections were investigated prospectively. 19 patients with severe bacterial infections had very high serum concentrations of procalcitonin at diagnosis (range 6-53 ng/mL) in comparison with 21 children found to have no signs of infection (baseline concentrations < 0.1 ng/mL). Serum procalcitonin values decreased rapidly during antibiotic therapy. 11 patients with peripheral bacterial colonisation or local infections without invasive sepsis and 18 (86%) of 21 patients with viral infections had concentrations within or slightly above the normal range (0.1-1.5 ng/mL). Among 9 severely burned patients studied in an intensive care unit, the post-traumatic course of procalcitonin concentrations (range 0.1-120 ng/mL) was closely related to infectious complications and acute septic episodes. Concentrations of mature calcitonin were normal in all subjects, whatever procalcitonin concentrations were found. Concentrations of a substance immunologically identical to procalcitonin are raised during septic conditions. Serum concentrations seem to be correlated with the severity of microbial invasion.

Serial serum procalcitonin changes in the prognosis of acute stroke

“…Small sample size and analytical restrictions of the assay constitute the main limitations of the present study. However, the immunoluminometric method for PCT measurement is widely accepted and was used to establish the role of PCT in sepsis [2]. Moreover, other parameters and clinical scoring systems examined in this study did correlate with outcome, regardless of the small number of cases.…”

“…Serum procalcitonin (PCT)-a marker of septicemia and infection severity [2]-has also been proposed as an indicator of systemic inflammatory response in noninfectious situations [3,4]. As no data exist thus far on PCT in stroke, this study aimed to evaluate serum PCT changes in the acute stroke setting, and to correlate them with clinical and laboratory parameters and patient's outcome.…”

“…The lower limit of detection of the assay was 0.08 ng/mL. With this assay, serum levels of PCT in healthy adults were less than 0.1 ng/ mL [2,4]. Laboratory values were reported as the median values on each measurement day.…”

Sepsis in head and neck cancer patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation: Literature review and consensus

“…trauma) [59]. -Procalcitonin has been proposed as a marker of infection [60][61][62][63]. Furthermore, it may be useful as an indicator of the severity of infection and as a guide for therapy (dose de-escalation [64]) in respiratory infections [61,62,[65][66][67][68].…”

Comparison of serum amyloid A concentrations with those of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in diagnosis and follow-up of neonatal sepsis in premature infants

“…Levels above this value have been accepted to be pathological. [13][14][15][16] It has also been suggested that PCT levels may be increased in neonatal sepsis and its diagnostic utility is comparable that of with CRP. 12 As stated previously, clinical signs of neonatal sepsis are nonspecific and there is no sensitive and specific laboratory test for detecting an early-stage infection.…”