Procalcitonin (PCT)

[Guest mmerocru]

Hi. 

Somebody use PCT before PCR in neonatal screening of infection in neonates with prenatal  risk  factors?

Actually we use first PCR, and I think it is OK. Some young collegues are very entusiastic with PCT, but I¨m not so sure. 

Thank you

 

[Stefan Johansson]

We have tried to use it but have not felt comfortable with the interpretation.

I browsed Pubmed and I could not find any large diagnostic studies (estimating sens/spec, predictive values etc).

Here was one better article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22019570 

Would be great to hear more input from others who may use it!

[M C Fadous Khalife]

We use both CRP and PCT and correlating both helps us a lot 

It is very useful when we decide to stop antibiotics 

[Guest dr.sherif]

8 hours ago, M C Fadous Khalife said:

We use both CRP and PCT and correlating both helps us a lot 

It is very useful when we decide to stop antibiotics 

CPT is more sensitive and specific for infection screening than CRP

[M C Fadous Khalife]

I agree with dr sherif 

[Abdul kasim jaleel ahmed]

PCR for screening is gold standard  but cost prohibitory

PCT like any other acute phase reactants 

PCT: can it differentiate between Viral/bacterial/fungal?

 

[M C Fadous Khalife]

From my experience , only viral vs bacterial