Naslov
Procalcitonin - potential, limitations and availability

Autori
Rimac, Vladimira

Izvornik
Signa Vitae (1334-5605) 10 (2015); 84-86

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, stručni

Ključne riječi
procalcitonin, bacterial infection, sepsis, intensive care unit

Sažetak
Bacterial infections and sepsis are major problems in critically ill patients. Timely diagnosis and therapy reduce morbidity and mortality. Many studies have included the investigation of various biomarkers whose elevated concentrations can indicate sepsis ; among them, PCT proved to be most useful. PCT is synthesized in the thyroid gland as a prohormone of calcitonin. In healthy individuals the PCT concentration is <0.1 ng/mL. The advantage of the PCT is a high negative predictive value for the exclusion of sepsis, with the cut-off value of 0.5 ng/ml. A concentration between 2 and 10 ng/ml indicates strong sepsis, whereas a value ≥10 ng/ml is associated with septic shock. In addition to the diagnosis of sepsis, the measurement of PCT concentration is useful for the introduction and monitoring of antibiotic therapy, which is performed ac-cording to an algorithm based on the cut-off value for PCT. Immunoassays are used to measure PCT concentrations in serum or plasma. It is possible to determine the concentration in whole blood by using point-of-care testing. In pathological conditions that are not associated with sepsis, PCT is useful as a prognostic indicator of disease complications. Some studies suggest that PCT is a potential early indicator of acute coronary syndrome.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita

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