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 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 value of procalcitonin (PCT) in differential diagnosis of invasive candidiasis. Methods PubMed, Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data were searched for articles published from the dates of establishment of databases to January 2021. A prospective and retrospective cohort studies and a case-control studies of PCT in differential diagnosis of invasive candidiasis were collected. RevMan 5.3 software QUADAS-2 risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the literature. Meta-Disc 1.4 software was used to determine whether the original data had threshold effect and heterogeneity. Stata 14.0 software was used to analyze meta, judge publication bias and draw Deeks diagram. Results A total of 9 articles and 943 patients were included. There were 259 cases in candida group and 684 cases in control group. The study showed that the total sensitivity was 0.86 [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.80, 0.91)], specificity was 0.78 [95%CI (0.70, 0.84)], positive likelihood ratio was 3.92 [95%CI (2.77, 5.55)], negative likelihood ratio was 0.18 [95%CI (0.12, 0.27)], the area under receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.90 [95%CI (0.87, 0.92)], diagnostic odds ratio was 19.75 [95%CI (10.71, 36.43)]. The results of heterogeneity test showed that there was heterogeneity caused by non-threshold effect between studies. The results of subgroup analysis showed that the heterogeneity I2 value of PCT<2 ng/mL subgroup decreased significantly, and the result was more stable, with sensitivity. The results show that sensitivity was 0.86 [95%CI (0.79, 0.91)], specificity was 0.72 [95%CI (0.63, 0.80)], the area under receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.87 [95%CI (0.83, 0.89)]. Conclusions Serum PCT in the differential diagnosis of invasive candidiasis has certain accuracy and negative predictive value. However, PCT is only an auxiliary test. The differential diagnosis of invasive candidiasis should be combined with clinical features and other diagnostic indexes.
Objective To explore the predictive value of serum procalcitonin (PCT), D-dimer (D-D) and decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) for prognosis of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and respiratory failure undergoing non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Methods A total of 95 patients with AECOPD and respiratory failure undergoing basic treatment and NIV in the hospital were retrospectively enrolled between September (n=65) 2017 and February 2021. According to prognosis after treatment, they were divided into a good prognosis group and a poor prognosis group (n=30). The general data of all patients were collected. The influencing factors of prognosis were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model. The levels of DcR3, PCT and D-D were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, colloidal gold colorimetry and immunoturbidimetry. The patients condition was assessed by scores of acute physiology chronic health evaluation scoring system Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ). The partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) were recorded. And the above indexes between the two groups were compared. The relationship between DcR3, PCT, D-D and APACHEⅡ score, PaO2, PaCO2 was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. The prognostic value of DcR3, PCT and D-D was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results There was no significant difference in gender, GOLD grading or underlying diseases between the poor prognosis group and the good prognosis group (P>0.05), but there were significant differences in age, DcR3, PCT, D-D, APACHEⅡ score, PaO2 and PaCO2 after treatment (P<0.05). DcR3, PCT, D-D, APACHEⅡ score and PaCO2 in the poor prognosis group were higher than those in the good prognosis group, while PaO2 was lower than that in the good prognosis group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that DcR3 ≥5.50 ng/mL (OR=21.889), PCT ≥ 5.00 μg/L (OR=3.782), D-D ≥3.00 μg/L (OR=4.162) and APACHEⅡ score ≥20 points (OR=2.540) were all influencing factors of prognosis (P<0.05). The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that DcR3, PCT and D-D were positively correlated with APACHEⅡ score and PaCO2, while negatively correlated with PaO2 (P<0.05). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that area under ROC curve of DcR3, PCT and D-D for predicting the prognosis were 0.745 (95%CI 0.631 - 0.859), 0.691 (95%CI 0.579 - 0.803) and 0.796 (95%CI 0.696 - 0.895), respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion The serum DcR3, PCT and D-D levels are related to disease progression in patients with AECOPD and respiratory failure after NIV, which have good predictive efficiency for prognosis and can be applied as important biological indexes to evaluate prognosis and guide treatment.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of antibiotic treatment in sepsis patients under the guidance of procalcitonin. MethodsDatabases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 9, 2016), EMbase, Web of Science, CBM, WanFang Data, VIP and CNKI were electronically searched from inception to September 2016 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about antibiotic treatment in sepsis under the guidance of procalcitonin. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk bias of included studies, and then meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 15 RCTs involving 3 328 sepsis patients were included. Among them, 1 649 were in the procalcitionin group and 1 679 patients in the control group. The results of meta-analysis showed that:the PCT group could significantly reduce the using time of antibiotics (MD=-2.37, 95%CI -2.96 to -1.78, P<0.000 01), the ICU length of stay (MD=-0.26, 95%CI -0.46 to -0.07, P=0.007), the hospital length of stay (MD=-2.78, 95%CI -4.53 to -1.04, P=0.002), as well as the 28-day mortality (MD=0.78, 95%CI 0.66 to 0.93, P=0.005). There were no significant differences between the two groups in ICU mortality, in-hospital mortality and clinical cure rate. ConclusionUsing the procalcitontin to guide the antibiotic treatment in sepsis can reduce the patients' use of antibiotics, ICU length of stay, in-hospital length of stay and 28-day mortality, but can not reduce the patients' ICU mortality, in-hospital mortality and clinical cure rate. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, the current conclusions are needed more studies to validate.
ObjectiveTo explore the natural changes of procalcitonin (PCT) in the early period after pediatric cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).MethodsA prospective and observational study was done on patients below 3 years of age, who underwent cardiac surgery involving CPB, with the risk adjustment of congenital heart surgery (RACHS) score of 2 to 5 and free from active preoperative infection or inflammatory disease. Blood samples for measurement of PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) were taken before surgery and daily for 7 days in postoperative period. Infections and complications within 7 days after operation were investigated. According to the presence or absence of infection and complications within 7 days after operation, the enrolled children were divided into an infection+complications group, a simple infection group, a simple complication group, and a normal group.Results Finally, 429 children with PICU stay≥ 4 days were enrolled, including 268 males and 161 females, with a median age of 8.0 (0.7, 26.0) months. There were 145 children in the simple infection group, 38 children in the simple complication group, 230 children in the normal group and 16 children in the infection+complications group. The levels of PCT, CRP and WBC were significantly higher after CPB. CRP and WBC peaked on the second postoperative day (POD) and remained higher than normal until POD7. PCT peaked on POD1 and would generally decrease to normal on POD5 if without infection and complications. Age, body weight, RACHS scores, the duration of CPB and aortic cross-clamping time were correlated with PCT level. There was a statistical difference in PCT concentration between the simple infection group and the normal group on POD 3-7 (P<0.01) and a statistical difference between the simple complication group and the normal group on POD 1-7 (P<0.01). A statistical difference was found between the simple infection group and the simple complication group in PCT on POD 1-5 (P<0.05).ConclusionWBC, CRP and PCT significantly increase after CPB in pediatric cardiac surgery patients. The factors influencing PCT concentration include age, weight, RACHS scores, CPB and aortic cross-clamping time, infection and complications.
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.