Association between very high Procalcitonin and underlying bacteria.

Jeannette Wadula; Jacqui Brown; Mani Khoosal; Donald Moshen Tanyanyiwa

Volume : VIII, Issue : I, January - 2019

Association between very high Procalcitonin and underlying bacteria.

Jeannette Wadula, Jacqui Brown, Mani Khoosal, Donald Moshen Tanyanyiwa

Abstract :

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess whether there is an association between very high (>100�g/L) procalcitonin (PCT) and type of bacteria in patients being investigated for sepsis. Methods: A retrospective study in which PCT and blood culture results retrieved from Chemical Pathology and Microbiology respectively were analysed. The study included 160 patients with PCT results <40 PCT ng/L and 120 PCT results >100ng/L selected using a simple purposive sampling technique. Results: Based on the predominantly cultured microorganism, three different groups were established, Group I comprised 74 patients with Gram-negative culture, Group II comprised 42 patients with Gram-positive culture and Group III comprised 44 patients with negative or no growth after 5 days of culture. Conclusion: Serum PCT levels were significantly higher in patients with Gram-negative sepsis than in patients with Gram-positive. We have therefore provided evidence that very high PCT levels could tentatively be used as a biomarker to distinguish Gram-negative sepsis from Gram-positive.