Open AccessImpact of body temperature and serum procalcitonin on the outcomes of critically ill neurological patients
Author(s) -
Abeer Feasal,
Abdou El Azab,
Karim Mashhour,
Amr El Hadidy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
egyptian journal of critical care medicine /egyptian journal of critical care medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2090-9209
pISSN - 2090-7303
DOI - 10.1016/j.ejccm.2015.05.001
Subject(s) - procalcitonin , medicine , systemic inflammatory response syndrome , gastroenterology , critically ill , stroke (engine) , sepsis , anesthesia , mechanical engineering , engineering
Fever is common in patients with acute stroke, and mostly it is due to infectious complications. The neurologic effects of fever are significant, increased temperature in the post-injury period has been associated with increased cytokine activity and increased infarct size.AimTo test the hypothesis that fever and increased serum procalcitonin are associated with poor outcomes after neurological injury.MethodologyFifty patients (30 males (60%) and 20 females (40%) mean 43.8±11.7years) were divided into two groups: Group I: 25 traumatic patients (i.e., head injury) and Group II: 25 non-traumatic patients (i.e., stroke). Temperature was measured from admission until the patients were discharged or died, and PCT was measured on day 1 of admission and after 48h of admission.ResultsFever has been associated with poor outcome, as fever is linked to worse GCS scores (12.6±1.2 vs. 7.7±2.6 in patients with fever, P 0.001), longer MV durations (3.6±1.0 vs. 22.4±9.1days, in patients with fever, P 0.001), longer ICU length of stay (8.1±4.7 vs. 23.0±8.0days in patients with fever, P 0.001) and increased mortality (P=0.001). There were significantly higher PCT levels in the mortality group versus the survived group at day 1 (4.15±0.82 vs. 2.47±0.059ng/ml, respectively, P 0.0001) and after 48h of admission (5.20±1.14 vs. 3.19±0.092ng/ml, respectively, P 0.0001).ConclusionFever had a strong link to worse GCS, longer MV durations, increased length of ICU stay, higher mortality rates and worse overall outcomes in neurocritical patients. High PCT levels can predict mortality in those patients