Agree. There's minimal evidence imho that PCT is more specific than CRP, and still less that it is a more rapid marker of bacterial infection.
To my mind, the manufacturers of the assay have sold this wrong. What I'd like to know from studies is how PCT modifies human behaviour in a) starting antimicrobials in non-critical cases and b) ceasing, de-escalating or changing antimicrobials as conditions progress. KR Ron On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 7:34 PM, Thomas Morris <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi Adrian > > Does procalcitonin really distinguish bacterial from other causes of > SIRS/inflammation better than, say, CRP? Junior doctors in the UK are > taught that essentially you can't ignore a CRP of 100mg/L or more without > excluding bacterial infection (ie. it's usually bugs that would do that). > Also, I think the half life is around about 24 - 36 hours. > > Sorry if this is a silly question! > > Tom Morris > Infectious Diseases SpR, Leicester, UK > > > > On Fri, 9 Nov 2012 09:09:47 -0700 > Adrian Verdin Z. <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello >> In one of the hospitals that I work we used a lot >> The level of procalcitonin in the blood stream of healthy individuals is >> below the limit of detection (10 pg/mL) of clinical assays.The level of >> procalcitonin raises in a response to a proinflammatory stimulus, >> especially of bacterias origin. In this case, it is produced mainly by the >> cells of the lung and the intestine. It does not raise significantly with >> viral or non-infectious inflammations. With the derangements that a severe >> infeccion with an associated systemic response brings, the blood levels of >> procalcitonin may rise to 100 ng/ml. In serum, procalcitonin has a >> half-life of 25 to 30 hours. Remarkably the high procalcitonin levels >> produced during infections are not followed by a parallel increase in >> calcitonin or serum calcium levels. >> >> Rewarts >> >> Dr. Adrián Verdín Z. >> Terapia intensiva >> Anestesia >> 614 159 3883 cell >> 614 1800 800 ext 16574 >> >> >> El 09/11/2012, a las 06:40, "patty jasper" <[email protected]> >> escribió: >> >> Hi Everyone, We are just starting to use Procalcitonin at our facility >>> and I was wondering what has been the general experience with it? >>> Has anyone used it in the OB population? >>> Has anyone used it in the pediatric population? >>> Thanks >>> Patty Garrity-Jasper, RN Clinical Educator >>> Mercy General Sacramento, CA >>> ______________________________**_________________ >>> Sepsisgroups mailing list >>> Sepsisgroups@lists.**sepsisgroups.org<[email protected]> >>> http://lists.sepsisgroups.org/**listinfo.cgi/sepsisgroups-** >>> sepsisgroups.org<http://lists.sepsisgroups.org/listinfo.cgi/sepsisgroups-sepsisgroups.org> >>> >> ______________________________**_________________ > Sepsisgroups mailing list > Sepsisgroups@lists.**sepsisgroups.org<[email protected]> > http://lists.sepsisgroups.org/**listinfo.cgi/sepsisgroups-** > sepsisgroups.org<http://lists.sepsisgroups.org/listinfo.cgi/sepsisgroups-sepsisgroups.org> > -- Dr Ron Daniels CEO: Global Sepsis Alliance Chair: United Kingdom Sepsis Group Principal Trustee: U.K Sepsis Trust Founding Director: Survive Sepsis Fellow: NHS Improvement Faculty *Suspect Sepsis: save someone's life today. * *Join us for World Sepsis Day on September 13th<http://www.globalsepsisalliance.org/> Twitter: @sepsisuk * * *
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