A study to compare  prognostic  utility of procalcitonin with existing biomarkers (CRP and TLC) and clinical risk scores (PSI and CURB 65) in community acquired pneumonia

Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2015; 5(1): 28-32

doi: 10.5455/njppp.2015.5.120720141

Sudhir Kumar Agarwal, Manoj Meena, Arvind Kumar Misra, Lalit Prashant Meena, Mrityunjaya Singh.

Abstract			Cited by 3 Articles
Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Biomarkers are increasingly being used to distinguish bacterial pneumonia from other causes, to help reduce the duration of antibiotic therapy, and to assess the prognosis of CAP and thereby aiming to complement Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) and other scores. Aims & Objective: To compare prognostic utility of procalcitonin (PCT) with existing biomarkers [C-reactive protein (CRP) and total leukocyte count (TLC)] and clinical risk scores (PSI and CURB-65). Materials and Methods: Fifty patients diagnosed with CAP were included in this study. Baseline serum PCT was measured, which was then stratified according to four predetermined tiers (tier I: Key words: Pneumonia; Community-Acquired Pneumonia; Procalcitonin; Biomarkers; Clinical Risk Scores