Procalcitonin use in a pediatric intensive care unit

Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2014 Sep;33(9):984-6. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000000370.

Abstract

We evaluated whether procalcitonin (PCT) might aid diagnosing serious bacterial infections in a general pediatric intensive care unit population. Two-hundred and one patients accounted for 332 PCT samples. A PCT ≥1.45 ng/mL had a positive predictive value of 30%, a negative predictive value of 93% and a sensitivity of 72% and a specificity of 75%. These data suggest PCT can assist in identifying patients without serious bacterial infections and limit antimicrobial use.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Bacterial Infections / blood*
  • Bacterial Infections / diagnosis*
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Calcitonin / blood*
  • Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Intensive Care Units, Pediatric*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Protein Precursors / blood*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • CALCA protein, human
  • Protein Precursors
  • Calcitonin
  • Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide