Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Procalcitonin in Patients with Sepsis

Abstract

Background: Severe generalized bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections with systemic manifestations are associated with increased procalcitonin (PCT) serum levels. PCT is a marker of severity of sepsis at the same time. We investigated the value of PCT levels on different days for identifying of severity of sepsis. Methods: In this study 50 patients who were diagnosed as sepsis and followed up in intensive care units of Gazi University Medical Faculty were included. In the patients who were diagnosed as sepsis, serum PCT levels were determined before beginning the antibacterial treatment on the first day, then after the diagnosis on the days 3 and 5. Illness severity was measured using APACHES II scores. PCT was quantified by use of a specific immunoluminometric assay (LUMItest procalcitonin, Brahms Diagnostica, Berlin) Results: Serum PCT levels were determined as high for the patients diagnosed as sepsis. There has been a significant statistical difference among the three measurements in the surviving patients on the aspects of repeated measurements. We determined a statistical difference on the aspects of PCT levels between the surviving and died patients when the patients are separated into two groups as patients with high risk and low risk according to PCT levels. While it is not determined a difference between measurements of PCT levels on the days 1 and 3, because of the determination of a difference between the PCT levels measured on the days 1 and 5 in the surviving patients, it was thought that measurements of PCT levels on the days 1 and 5 can give sufficient data. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was viewed that with the patients who have sepsis, PCT can be used as not only a diagnostic but also a prognostic marker.