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 infections. Thus, PCT systematic use has been proposed as part of the diagnostic tools and for monitoring treatment duration, but not all of the potential benefits and limitations of PCT have been investigated. We retrospectively performed a case-control study analyzing all patients with positive blood cultures (BCs) in the period of January 2017 to December 2017 at a 1100-bed teaching hospital in Italy and investigating the correlation between PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) values (± 24 h from BC collection) in pathogens causing bloodstream infections. During the study period, 1296 positive BCs were retrieved; of these, 258 (19.9%) episodes were recorded in the intensive care unit (ICU) and were included in the study.

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