INTRODUCTION The intent of this study was to determine whether serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels are associated with prognosis, measured as organ dysfunctions and 28-day mortality, in patients with severe pneumonia. METHODS This was a multicenter, observational study of critically ill adult patients with pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation conducted in 10 academic hospitals in Canada, t...

Bacterial infections: By and large PCT levels are elevated in bacterial infections as reported by several studies, but the feature of the response can be different. For example higher peak PCT concentrations are expected in Gram negative as compared to Gram positive infections. Furthermore, differences may also be seen even within the family of Gram negative bacteria: as higher peak PCT concent...

Objective: To examine the change in Procalcitonin (PCT) during the perioperative period of primary total hip replacement and to investigate the diagnostic value of PCT for prosthetic joint infection. Methods: Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) were measured and analysed in 36 patients with primary hip replacement both before the surgery and 1, 4, and 10 d af...

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is the most frequent type of porphyria worldwide and results from a catalytic deficiency of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (UROD), the fifth enzyme in heme biosynthesis. At least two different types of PCT are currently distinguished: an acquired variant, also referred to as sporadic or type I PCT, in which the enzymatic deficiency is limited to the liver; and an a...

PURPOSE Bacterial translocation (BT) is common in colon cancer patients and may be associated with increased occurrence of septic complications as well as with adverse oncologic outcomes. The aim of the present study was to correlate the BT detectable through peritoneal lavage culture or identified by abnormal inflammatory parameters with the clinicopathologic parameters and the short-term prog...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Early identification of bacterial infection in patients with fever is important for prompt treatment. However, the available parameters such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocyte counts are not very specific. This study was aimed to assess the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT), CRP, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and serum amyloid A (SAA) for bacterial infection in febri...

OBJECTIVE Procalcitonin (PCT) and C reactive protein (CRP) have been used as infection parameters. PCT increase correlates with the infection's severity, course, and mortality. Post-cardiocirculatory arrest syndrome may be related to an early systemic inflammatory response, and may possibly be associated with an endotoxin tolerance. Our objective was to report the time profile of PCT and CRP le...

Hepatic siderosis is common in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). Mutations in the hereditary hemochromatosis (hh) gene (HFE) explain the siderosis in approximately 20% patients, suggesting that the remaining occurrences result from additional genetic and environmental factors. Two genes known to modify iron loading in hh are hepcidin (HAMP) and hemojuvelin (HJV). To determine if muta...

BACKGROUND The diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) for patients with renal impairment is unclear. METHODS We searched multiple databases for studies published through December 2011 that evaluated the diagnostic performance of PCT among patients with renal impairment and suspected systemic bacterial infection. We summarized test performance characteristics with the use of forest plots, hie...