Diagnostic Efficacy and Prognostic Value of Serum Procalcitonin Concentration in Patients With Suspected Sepsis

Background: Procalcitonin is released in response to bacterial infection and it is not released in Inflammatory and viral diseases.Objective: To show the diagnostic efficacy and prognostic value of procalcitonin for sepsis.Methods: A consecutive series of 103 patients with suspected sepsis were admitted to the intensive care unit over a 2-year period. During the first 24 hours of the admission procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and complement proteins were determined. The diagnostic efficacy was tested with predictive values, likelihood ratios, receiver operating characteristic curves, and multiple logistic regression. The association of procalcitonin with mortality was assessed by the Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.Results: Procalcitonin had a better positive likelihood ratio than C-reactive protein —2.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.3-3.7) versus 1.1 (95% confidence interval: 0.9-1.2). Sequential Organ Failure Assessment yielded the highest discriminative value, with an area under the curve o...