Performance of Procalcitonin (PCT) tested in an African paediatric intensive care setting.

DONALD MOSHEN TANYANYIWA; JEANNETTE WADULA; JACQUI BROWN; STEMBISO VELAPHI

Volume : VII, Issue : I, January - 2018

Performance of Procalcitonin (PCT) tested in an African paediatric intensive care setting.

Donald Moshen Tanyanyiwa, Jeannette Wadula, Jacqui Brown, Stembiso Velaphi

Abstract :

Introduction: It was puzzling for clinicians to get normal CRP reports for patients who displayed clinical features of sepsis. The aim of the study was to test the performance of PCT against traditional markers of sepsis like and white cell counts in a paediatric intensive care setting.

Methods: Data from 75 neonates and 57, > 28 days old patients that had full laboratory results for the investigation of possible sepsis was analysed. Comparative descriptive statistics were used to highlight correlations of biomarkers in sepsis and measure diagnostic accuracy. Results: The overall correlation of CRP and PCT was weak (r = 0.24) but better (moderate; r = 0.45) at age > 3 days, but very weak at < 2 days. The correlation was also better (moderate; r = 0.53) at PCT ≤ 0.5 �g/L but weak at PCT ≤ 0.27 �g/L. PCT levels correlated with one or with all markers of sepsis and in some instances, was the only pointer of sepsis. Using blood culture as a gold standard, CRP showed more sensitivity compared to PCT (90.5% vs 61.9%), while PCT had more specificity than CRP (27.8% vs 13.9%).

Conclusion: There is a weak correlation between CRP and PCT as markers of sepsis in neonates. CRP is more sensitive but less specific than PCT. Therefore, the use of both tests in neonates when investigating sepsis is recommended.