Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2009;13(3):149.
doi: 10.1186/cc7799. Epub 2009 May 21.

Procalcitonin: seeking a niche

Anthony McLean  1
Affiliations
Comment

Procalcitonin: seeking a niche

Anthony McLean. Crit Care. 2009.

Abstract

For over a decade there has been intense interest given to the role of procalcitonin in the diagnosis and management of sepsis in critically ill patients. Early opinions strongly supported the diagnostic role but data accumulating from numerous subsequent studies are less supportive, even when used in very selective settings. Although there remains sufficient reason to support the use of procalcitonin in guiding antibiotic therapy or perhaps providing prognostic information, it may be time to focus our efforts on the early diagnosis of sepsis in the critically care setting on alternative, more promising methods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

References

    1. Brodska H, Drabek T, Malickova K, Kazda A, Vitek A, Zima T, Markova M. Marked increase of procalcitonin after the administration of anti-thymocyte globulin in patients before haematopoietic stem cell transplantation does not indicate sepsis: a prospective study. Crit Care. 2009;13:R37. doi: 10.1186/cc7749. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Müller B, White JC, Nylén ES, Snider RH, Becker KL, Habener JF. Ubiquitous expression of the calcitonin-1 gene in multiple tissues in response to sepsis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001;86:396–404. doi: 10.1210/jc.86.1.396. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tang BM, Eslick GD, Craig JC, McLean AS. Accuracy of procalcitonin for sepsis diagnosis in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2007;7:210–217. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70052-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Becker Kl, Snider R, Nylen ES. Procalcitonin assay in systemic inflammation, infection, and sepsis: clinical utility and limitations. Crit Care Med. 2008;36:941–952. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0B013E318165BABB. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jensen J-U, Lundgren B, Hein L, Mohr T, Petersen PL, Andersen LH, Lauritsen AO, Hougaard S, Mantoni T, Bømler B, Thornberg KJ, Thormar K, Løken J, Morten Steensen M, Peder Carl P, J Asger Petersen JA, Hamid Tousi H, Peter Søe-Jensen P, Bestle M, Hestad S, Andersen MH, Fjeldborg P, Larsen KM, Rossau C, Thomsen CB, Østergaard C, Kjær J, Grarup J, Lundgren JD. The Procalcitonin and Survival Study (PASS) BMC Infect Dis. 2008;8:91. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-8-91. - DOI - PMC - PubMed