Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin for Early Aspiration Pneumonia in Critically Ill Patients with Coma: A Prospective Study

Background Early diagnostic orientation for differentiating pneumonia from pneumonitis at the early stage after aspiration would be valuable to avoid unnecessary antibiotic therapy. We assessed the accuracy of procalcitonin (PCT) in diagnosing aspiration pneumonia (AP) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients requiring mechanical ventilation after out-of-hospital coma.