Procalcitonin, C-Reactive Protein, and Cell Counts in the Diagnosis of Parapneumonic Pleural Effusions

Abstract

Determination of procalcitonin and CRP, in the pleural fluid and blood, does not seem to provide great value to the diagnosis of PAR. However, calculating the product of the total neutrophil count and the CRP may be useful in the diagnosis of these effusions because increased values have a high specificity and predictive values.