Search Tag: procalcitonin
COVID-19 and Antimicrobial Stewardship
2020 19 Oct
COVID-19 is a new disease. On initial presentation, clinicians can find it difficult to differentiate between coronavirus disease and bacterial community-acquired pneumonia. COVID-19 patients often develop a hyperinflammatory phase during the disease process, which could again be difficult to distinguish from a secondary bacterial infection. That is... Read more
The Role of Procalcitonin for Risk Assessment and Treatment of COVID-19 Patients
2020 03 Aug
Procalcitonin is widely used to assess the risk of bacterial infection and disease progression. Can it be an additional tool to identify COVID-19 patients at risk of severe disease? Key Points Procalcitonin (PCT) is a widely used biomarker to assess the risk of bacterial infection and disease progression. Early evidence... Read more
Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Therapy in Severely Critically Ill Patients
2019 30 Aug
The controversy surrounding the efficacy of the blood infection biomarker, procalcitonin (PCT), for guidance in acute infections and sepsis treatment remains. PCT is a calcitonin precursor produced by epithelial cells when infected with bacteria and has been identified as a marker due to the protein levels’ variation upon infection initiation and cessation.... Read more
PCT-guided antibiotic treatment improves outcomes in sepsis patients
2018 22 Aug
Procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic treatment in ICU patients with infection and sepsis patients results in improved survival and reduced antibiotic treatment duration, according to results of a new meta-analysis published in the journal Critical Care. Early identification of sepsis and appropriate initial management including the start of... Read more
Procalcitonin does not curb antibiotic use for lower respiratory tract infection
2018 29 May
In the Procalcitonin Antibiotic Consensus Trial (ProACT), the use of a procalcitonin-guided antibiotic prescription guideline did not result in less exposure to antibiotics than did usual care among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected lower respiratory tract infection. Overuse of antibiotics is common in infections... Read more
Procalcitonin Testing Associated with Lower Costs, Length of Stay
2016 05 Sep
Procalcitonin (PCT) is increasingly used in health services to diagnose and manage sepsis, and is authorised for use for this purpose in the United States. A recently published study found that patients who had 1-2 PCT evaluations on their first day of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) had a significantly lower hospital and ICU length of stay,... Read more
Is PCT Testing Effective in Guiding Antibiotic Therapy?
2015 12 Dec
The use of procalcitonin (PCT) testing to guide antibiotic treatment may reduce antibiotic use in patients with sepsis or suspected sepsis in the ICU and patients with possible bacterial infections in emergency departments (EDs), according to a systematic review published in Health Technology Assessment . PCT is produced in your body and increases... Read more