Objective To explore the clinical significances of serum procalcitonin ( PCT) and Creactive protein( CRP) in diagnosis and severity assessment of sepsis. Methods A total of 72 patients with different severities of sepsis admitted to Wenzhou Second People’s Hospital from June 2005 to September 2007, including 22 cases of sepsis, 26 cases of severe sepsis, and 24 cases of sepsis shock. Meanwhile, twenty non-sepsis patients were enrolled as control group. The differences of serum PCT and CRP levels, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ ( APACHEⅡ) scores and sepsis related organ failure assessment ( SOFA) scores were compared in controls and the septic patients with different severities and different prognosis. Results The PCT levels of patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and sepsis shock were significantly higher than that in the non-sepsis group [ ( 1. 51 ±1. 57) , ( 5. 62 ±3. 78) and ( 13. 56 ±8. 16) vs ( 0. 12 ± 0. 33) μg/L, P lt;0. 05 or P lt; 0. 01, respectively] . The CRP level, APACHEⅡ and SOFA were also increased in septic patients compared to control and progressively elavated by the severities of sepsis patients ( P lt; 0. 05 or P lt; 0. 01) , however, CRP levels were not significant different ( P gt; 0. 05) . The PCT levels, APACHEⅡ and SOFA of the patients with good prognosis were lower than those with poor prognosis( all P lt; 0. 01) , but the CRP levels was not significant different( P gt;0. 05) . Conclusion The serumlevel of PCT is superior to serumlevel of CRP in severity classification and prognosis assessment.
Objective To evaluate systematically the effectiveness and safety of procalcitonin ( PCT) -guided therapy in comparison with standard therapy in patients with suspected or confirmed severe bacterial infections in intensive care unit ( ICU) . Methods Five randomized controlled trials ( 927 patients) were included for statistical analysis by the cochrane collaboration′s RevMan5. 0 software. Results PCT-guided therapy was associated with a significant reduction in duration of antibiotic therapy [ MD =- 2. 01, 95% CI ( - 2. 37, - 1. 64) , P lt;0. 00001] , but the mortality [ OR =1. 11, 95% CI ( 0. 83, 1. 49) ,P =0. 47] and length of ICU stay[ MD = 0. 49, 95% CI( - 1. 44, 2. 42) , P = 0. 62] were not significantly different. Conclusions An algorithmbased on serial PCT measurements would allow a more judicious use of antibiotics than currently traditional treatment of patients with severe infections in ICU. It can reduce the use of antibiotics and appears to be safe.
Objective To explore the association between procalcitonin (PCT) level and the development of malignant brain edema (MBE) after acute cerebral infarction. Methods The data on patients with stroke admitted to the Department of Neurology of West China Hospital, Sichuan University between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 were retrospective collected. Patients were divided into MBE group and non-MBE group based on whether MBE had occurred. The basic information and neuroimaging data of two groups of patients were compared and analyzed. Results A total of 798 patients were included. Among them, there were 93 cases of MBE (11.65%) and 705 cases of non-MBE (88.35%). The median time of MBE occurrence (lower quartile, upper quartile) was 29 (24, 54) hours after onset. The difference in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, large-scale middle cerebral artery infarction, dysarthria, low fever, consciousness status, chronic heart failure, TOAST typing, mechanical ventilation, gastric tube placement, PCT on the first and third day of admission between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the other indicators between the two groups (P>0.05). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that both day 1 PCT and large-scale middle cerebral artery infarction were associated with MBE. Conclusions Elevated PCT within 24 hours from onset is independently associated with the development of MBE after acute cerebral infarction. Patients with elevated PCT after cerebral infarction may require careful clinical management.
ObjectiveTo explore the correlation of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) with inflammatory response in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and assess the diagnostic value of sNGAL for severe CAP (SCAP).MethodsFrom January 2018 to June 2019, a total of 85 patients with CAP were enrolled in this study. Age, length of hospital stay, the levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, white blood cell count,C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and procalcitonin, and CURB-65 score were compared between patients with SCAP (n=34) and patients without SCAP (n=51). The correlations of sNGAL with serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, white blood cell count, CRP, IL-6, procalcitonin, and CURB-65 score were assessed with Spearman’s correlation analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for sNGAL diagnosing SCAP was examined. ResultsCompared with patients without SCAP, SCAP patients demonstrated older age, longer hospital stay, higher serum CRP and IL-6 concentritions, and higher CURB-65 score (P<0.05). The Spearman’s correlation test showed that sNGAL was positively correlated with serum CRP, IL-6, PCT and CURB-65 score (rs=0.472, 0.504, 0.388, and 0.405, respectively; P<0.01). According to ROC analysis, the area under curve of sNGAL for diagnosing SCAP were 0.816, with a sensitivity of 76.56% and a specificity of 74.4% when the cut-off value was 171.0 ng/mL.ConclusionssNGAL concentration is positively correlated with the serverity of CAP. It can be regarded as a reliable indicator for diagnosis of SCAP in patients with CAP.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) for tuberculous pleural effusion. MethodsWe electronically searched CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and EMbase from inception to April, 2013, to collect the literature about the diagnostic value of PCT for tuberculous pleural effusion compared with gold standard (positive outcomes of mycobacterium tuberculosis culture). Two reviewers screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies. MetaDiSc 1.4 were used to conduct the meta-analysis. ResultsEight studies were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.63 (95%CI 0.58 to 0.68) and 0.76 (95%CI 0.70 to 0.81), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 2.72 (95%CI 1.48 to 5.02) and 0.49 (95%CI 0.29 to 0.82), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 5.77 (95%CI 1.89 to 17.58). And the SROC AUC was 0.79. Heterogeneity was mainly derived from the QUADAS score and Begg's test showed there was no presence of publication bias. ConclusionPCT is a potential marker in the diagnosis of benign and tuberculous pleural effusion, which can be used to determine diagnosis identification of tuberculous pleural effusion.
Objective To explore the expression differences of procalcitonin (PCT) in different infection sites and bacterial strains, and to provide the evidence for early differential diagnosis of infectious diseases with PCT as a biomarker. Methods The patients with various kinds of infections diagnosed in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2012 and June 2016 were retrospectively included. The expression differences of PCT in various infection sites and bacterial strains were analyzed. Results A total of 1 005 patients were include in this study, including 259 with systemic infection and 746 with local infection. The median PCT level in the systemic infection group was higher than that in the local infection group (8.57 vs. 0.10 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 779 patients with pulmonary infection, the median PCT level of the patients with sepsis caused by pulmonary infection was higher than that of the ones without sepsis (4.61vs. 0.10 ng/mL, P<0.05), and the median PCT level of the patients with positive sputum culture was higher than that of the ones with negative sputum culture (0.28vs. 0.08 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 48 patients with urinary tract infection, the median PCT level of the patients with sepsis caused by urinary tract infection was higher than that of the ones without sepsis (12.00vs. 0.42 ng/mL, P<0.05), and the median PCT level of the patients with complicated urinary tract infection was higher than that of the patients with simplex urinary tract infection (19.15vs. 5.02 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 259 patients with systemic infection, the median PCT level of the patients with infective shock was higher than that of the ones without infective shock (40.26vs. 3.83 ng/mL, P<0.05); the mean PCT level of patients with infection of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and fungi was 13.66, 0.99, and 3.30 ng/mL with a significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion The PCT level has unique advantages in identifying different sites of the infection, early diagnosing complicated urinary tract infection, and evaluating the severity of infection, which could provide evidence in early identification for sepsis caused by various kinds of infectious pathogens.
Objective To investigate the values of pneumonia severity index ( PSI) , CURB-65,plasma procalcitonin ( PCT) , C-reactive protein ( CRP) measurements for evaluation the severity of healthcare-associated pneumonia ( HCAP) .Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted on 92 hospitalized patients with HCAP admitted between June 2010 and December 2011. They were divided into different groups according to different severity assessment criteria. The variance and correlation of PCT,CRP,WBC and percent of neutrophil ( Neu% ) levels were compared among different groups. ROC curvewas established to analyze PSI, CURB-65, PCT and CRP levels for predicting the motality of HCAP patients.Results In the severe HCAP group, PSI and CURB-65 scoring and serum PCT, CRP, WBC, Neu% levels were significantly higher than those in the non-severe HCAP group( P lt; 0. 05) . In the high-risk HCAP group, PCT, CRP, WBC and Neu% levels were significantly higher than those in the low-risk HCAP group according to the PSI and CURB-65 scoring criteria( P lt;0. 05) .WBC and Neu% levels were also significantly higher than those in the moderate-risk group. PSI and CURB-65 scoring were positively correlated with PCT and CRP levels. PSI scoring gt;120 points or CURB-65 scoring gt;2 points on admission were predictors of mortality. Conclusions PSI and CURB-65 scoring are correlated with severity of HCAP. Combining serum PCT and CRP levels can improve the predictive accuracy of the severity of HCAP.
Objective To investigate the clinical value of peripheral serum cell-free DNA/neutrophil extracellular traps (cf-DNA/NETs) level in diagnosis and severity assessment of sepsis patients. Methods Forty patients with sepsis and 40 patients with non-infectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome (nf-SIRS) were enrolled in this study. The cf-DNA/NETs level in serum of all subjects were measured. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic ability of the cf-DNA/NETs, white blood cell count (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The sepsis patients were stratified into a survival group and a death group according to the prognosis. Sequential organ failure (SOFA) score were recorded in the sepsis patients, and the correlations between SOFA and cf-DNA/NETs, PCT, WBC, IL-6 were analyzed. Results Compared with the nf-SIRS group, cf-DNA/NETs and PCT levels were significantly higher in the sepsis group (both P<0.05). WBC and IL-6 showed no significant differences between the two groups (bothP>0.05). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of cf-DNA/NETs was 0.884 for diagnosis of sepsis, and it was higher than the AUC of PCT (0.803). The cf-DNA/NETs showed better sensitivity (81.2% and 79.2%) and specificity (81.0% and 82.4%) than PCT. cf-DNA/NETs and PCT were significantly higher in the death group than those in the survival group. Bivariate collection analysis revealed positive correlations between SOFA score and the two biomarkers of cf-DNA/NETs and PCT (r1=0.573, r2=0.518; both P<0.01). Conclusions cf-DNA/NETs and PCT have certain value in early diagnosis of sepsis, and cf-DNA/NETs shows better diagnostic value in distinguishing sepsis from nf-SIRS than PCT. cf-DNA/NETs can be used as a routine monitoring index to help assess disease severity in sepsis.
Objective To assess the value of procalcitonin ( PCT) in serum and percentage of infected cells ( PIC) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid ( BALF) for the diagnosis of early ventilator-associatedpneumonia ( VAP) .Methods A prospective observational study was conducted in a teaching hospital. The patients consecutively admitted to the intensive care unit from January 2011 to June 2012, who received mechanical ventilation for more than 48h and clinically suspected for VAP, were recruited in the study.Patients with infection outside the lungs and previous diagnosed infection were excluded. PCT was detected and bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in the day when VAP was diagnosed. BALF cells were stained by May-Grunwald Giemsa ( MGG) for counting 100 phagocytic cells and calculating infected cells ( ICs )percentage.Results 76 of all 421 patients were enrolled in this study, 64 of which were diagnosed, 12 were under-diagnosed. The PCT [ ( 3. 48 ±1. 46) ng/mL vs. ( 1. 53 ±0. 60) ng/mL] and PIC [ ( 3. 11 ±1. 47) % vs. ( 1. 08 ±0. 29) % ] were significant higher in the patients with VAP. The threshold of 2 ng/mL of PCT and 2% of PIC corresponded to sensitivity of 78. 12% and 78. 12% , and specificity of 75. 00% and 91. 67% , respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve was 0. 87 ( 95% CI 78. 9%-95. 9% ) and 0. 874 ( 95% CI 79. 2% -94. 9% ) , respectively. The area under ROC curve was 0. 979, and the sensitivity was 97. 36% , specificity was 97. 36% when the two cutoff values were both achieved. Conclusion PCT and PIC are useful markers to diagnose early VAP quickly and conveniently and allow early antibiotic treatment of patients with suspected VAP.
ObjectiveTo compare the clinical characteristics of inpatients with different influenza subtypes, so as to identify the subtypes at an early stage.MethodsA retrospective case study was conducted, using influenza surveillance data from January 1st, 2016 to December 31st, 2018 at a tertiary surveillance outpost hospital in Chengdu. Patients diagnosed with different subtypes of influenza by nucleic acid testing or virus isolation and culture were investigated, and their clinical characteristics, laboratory test results, and prognosis were analyzed and compared among the four subtypes including H1N1, H3N2, Victoria (BV), and Yamagata (BY).ResultsThere were 127 inpatients with laboratory-confirmed influenza. Among the confirmed influenza patients, 85.8% (109/127) had low or normal white blood cell counts, and 78.8% (89/113) had abnormally high procalcitonin levels. Among the patients with different subtypes, statistical differences existed in age (P<0.001), low or normal white blood cell count (P=0.041), positive bacteria/fungus/mycoplasma/chlamydia culture (P=0.001), kidney damage (P=0.013), outcome at discharge (P<0.001), and hospitalization expenses (P=0.016). However, there was no statistical difference in gender, clinical symptoms, liver damage, cardiac damage, or length of hospital stay (P>0.05).ConclusionThe infection of influenza can lead to severe clinical complications or even death. The outcomes of patients with influenza A may be more severe. An elevated procalcitonin level can be detected in quite a few patients with influenza.