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Serum procalcitonin is a valuable diagnostic marker in acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia
Author(s) -
Nagata Kazuma,
Tomii Keisuke,
Otsuka Kojiro,
Tachikawa Ryo,
Nakagawa Atsushi,
Otsuka Kyoko,
Takeshita Junpei,
Tanaka Kosuke,
Matsumoto Takeshi,
Monden Kazuya,
Kawamura Takahisa,
Tamai Koji
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/resp.12018
Subject(s) - procalcitonin , medicine , exacerbation , ards , gastroenterology , pneumonia , respiratory distress , lung , sepsis , surgery
Background and objective Acute exacerbation ( AE ) of interstitial pneumonia ( IP ) is defined as a life‐threatening deterioration of IP without identifiable cause. We evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic role of serum procalcitonin ( PCT ) in AE‐IP . Methods Twenty consecutive patients admitted for AE‐IP between M ay 2010 and A pril 2012 were evaluated. Controls consisted of 13 consecutively admitted patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome ( ARDS ) due to bacterial pneumonia ( BP ) and 24 with bacterial pneumonia with stable IP (‘ BP with IP ’). Serum PCT was measured at baseline, at days 2, 4 and 8 in patients with AE‐IP , and at baseline in controls. Results Serum PCT levels in AE‐IP were significantly lower than in BP‐ARDS (mean ± standard deviation, 0.62 ± 1.30 vs 30.14 ± 22.76 ng/mL; P < 0.0001) or ‘ BP with IP ’ (mean ± standard deviation, 0.62 ± 1.30 vs 8.31 ± 14.83 ng/mL; P < 0.05). Thus, serum PCT discriminated well between AE‐IP and BP‐ARDS , or ‘ BP with IP ’ (area under the curve 0.99 and 0.85, respectively). However, there were no significant differences in serum PCT between 30‐day survivors or non‐survivors. Serum PCT tended to be reduced in both patient groups. Conclusions Serum PCT is a useful marker for discriminating between AE‐IP and BP . However, serum PCT is not useful as a prognostic marker for survival.