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Procalcitonin and C-Reactive Protein Levels According to Blood Culture Results in Intensive Care Unit Patients

BackgroundProcalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are evaluated as useful parameters in the management of infectious diseases, and the aim of this retrospective study was to determine the value of PCT levels for the diagnosis of infections in adult patients with positive or negative results. MethodsNinety-eight intensive care unit patients were enrolled in the study, and they were divided into 2 groups according to their positive or negative blood culture results. All patients’ PCT, CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell (WBC) results were obtained and compared for the 2 groups, and receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted for all parameters. ResultsThere was no significant difference between the 2 groups for the PCT, CRP, ESR, and WBC results. The serum value of PCT, which yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.601, was found to be superior to other parameters for bacteremia. ConclusionsInfection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units worldwide. Although PCT and CRP levels have been established as markers, which can be used to identify sepsis, and PCT level has been a valuable predictor for the early diagnosis of sepsis, in our study, none of the parameters were found to be statistically significant when compared for the 2 groups. However, PCT, which has a poor diagnostic value, seems to be superior to CRP, ESR, and WBC in differentiating bacteremia from nonbacteremia.