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Review
. 2021 Jan;25(1):77-84.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23706.

Prognostic Value of Serum Procalcitonin in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review

Sibtain Ahmed  1 , Lena Jafri  1 , Zahra Hoodbhoy  2 , Imran Siddiqui  1
Affiliations
Review

Prognostic Value of Serum Procalcitonin in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review

Sibtain Ahmed et al. Indian J Crit Care Med. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: This study is aimed at reviewing the published literature on the prognostic role of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in COVID-19 cases.

Data retrieval: We systematically reviewed the literature available on PubMed, MEDLINE, LitCovid NLM, and WHO: to assess the utility of PCT in prognosis of coronavirus disease. Scrutiny for eligible studies comprising articles that have evaluated the prognostic utility of PCT and data compilation was undertaken by two separate investigators. Original articles in human subjects reporting the prognostic role of PCT in adult COVID-19 patients were included. The Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool was utilized to assess the strength of evidence. Results were reported as narrative syntheses.

Results: Out of the total 426 citations, 52 articles passed through screening. The quality of evidence and methodology of included studies was overall acceptable. The total sample size of the studies comprised of 15,296 COVID-19-positive subjects. Majority of the studies were from China, i.e., 40 (77%). The PCT cut-off utilized was 0.05 ng/mL by 18 (35%) studies, followed by 0.5 ng/mL by 9 (17.5%). Eighty five percent (n = 44) studies reported statistically significant association (p value < 0.05) between PCT and severity.

Conclusion: Procalcitonin appears as a promising prognostic biomarker of COVID-19 progression in conjunction with the clinical context.

How to cite this article: Ahmed S, Jafri L, Hoodbhoy Z, Siddiqui I. Prognostic Value of Serum Procalcitonin in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(1):77-84.

Keywords: COVID-19; Procalcitonin; Prognostic biomarker; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None

Figures

Flowchart 1
Flowchart 1
Search strategy
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Countries of origin of studies
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Assessment of risk of bias using QUIPS tool
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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