Tag: procalcitonin
Two Biomarkers Improve CRB-65 Predictability for Death Due to Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Augmenting CRB-65 (confusion, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age 65 or older) score with troponin T high-sensitive (TnT-hs) and procalcitonin (PCT) help to predict death or intensive care unit (ICU) admission of patients... read more
Ineffectiveness of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange – Last Resort in Severe COVID-19
Patients severely infected with SARS-CoV-2 showed fluctuations in inflammatory parameters despite TPE treatment; CRS was not suppressed by TPE; and this treatment did not confer survival benefit in this patient group. A... read more
Procalcitonin and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio Trends in ICU Sepsis Patients
Understanding the trends of PCT and NLR concerning the infection source can provide deeper insights into their diagnostic and prognostic capabilities. This comparative analysis of PCT, NLR, and SOFA score trends contributes... read more
Secretomic Approach Value in COVID-19 Viral Pneumonia Among Patients With Respiratory Distress
this article presents an innovative and promising secretomic analysis to distinguish VPP patients from NV-ICU patients using combinations of protein markers. Among the identified proteins, ficolin-3 and proteoglycan-4 appear... read more
Diagnosing Sepsis: Where We’re At And Where We’re Going
Diagnosing sepsis remains problematic. Pathogen identification is frequently lacking and the dysregulated host response is non-specific. Blood cultures often take days to deliver a result and, even then, approximately 90%... read more
Procalcitonin in the ED: The evidence
Is procalcitonin of any value in the emergency department? Considering that procalcitonin testing is not available in any of my hospitals, I have never been all that interested in this question. But Swami requested a procalcitonin... read more
Et Tu, Calcium?
We know our core medications for ACLS (epinephrine, amiodarone, lidocaine) but what is the role of other medications, like calcium? We know calcium can be used in the non-ACLS setting for hyperkalemia to prevent or treat... read more
Procalcitonin-guided Antibiotic Treatment Effect on Mortality in Acute Respiratory Infections
Use of procalcitonin to guide antibiotic treatment in patients with acute respiratory infections reduces antibiotic exposure and side-effects, and improves survival. Widespread implementation of procalcitonin protocols... read more
Procalcitonin-Guided Use of Antibiotics for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
The provision of procalcitonin assay results, along with instructions on their interpretation, to emergency department and hospital-based clinicians did not result in less use of antibiotics than did usual care among patients... read more
Comparison of Diagnostic Accuracy Among Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and Interleukin 6 for Blood Culture Positivity in General ICU Patients
Despite various technological advances, it still usually takes at least 24 to 48 h to obtain a blood culture result. The subsequent delays in diagnosis and treatment of infection can negatively impact care in the intensive... read more
Procalcitonin does not curb antibiotic use for lower respiratory tract infection
In the Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial (ProACT), the use of a procalcitonin-guided antibiotic prescription guideline did not result in less exposure to antibiotics than did usual care among patients presenting to... read more
Procalcitonin Reduces Antibiotic Use with No Negative Outcomes
The elderly patient presenting to the ED with nonspecific symptoms remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Often, these patients arrive with general complaints ranging from altered mental status to weakness, subjective... read more
The combination of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein or presepsin alone improves the accuracy of diagnosis of neonatal sepsis
The combination of PCT and CRP or presepsin alone improves the accuracy of diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. However, further studies are required to confirm these findings. A total of 28 studies enrolling 2661 patients were... read more
Cost-effectiveness of Procalcitonin Testing to Guide Antibiotic Treatment Duration in Critically Ill Patients
Although the impact of PCT guidance on total healthcare-related costs during the initial hospitalisation episode is likely negligible, the lower in-hospital mortality may lead to a non-significant increase in costs over a... read more
Comparison between procalcitonin and C-reactive protein to predict blood culture results in ICU patients
Biomarkers represent an essential tool for identification of patients developing infection and to determine their clinical severity. Procalcitonin (PCT) levels appeared to be correlated with the development of severe bacterial... read more
