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Critical Care
Published in: Critical Care 2/2011

Open Access 01-04-2011 | Research

Multinational, observational study of procalcitonin in ICU patients with pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation: a multicenter observational study

Authors: Frank Bloos, John C Marshall, Richard P Dellinger, Jean-Louis Vincent, Guillermo Gutierrez, Emanuel Rivers, Robert A Balk, Pierre-Francois Laterre, Derek C Angus, Konrad Reinhart, Frank M Brunkhorst

Published in: Critical Care | Issue 2/2011

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Abstract

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, the United States, and Central Europe. PCT was measured daily for 14 days using an immuno-luminometric assay.

Results

We included 175 patients, 57 with community acquired pneumonia (CAP), 61 with ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and 57 with hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP). Initial PCT levels were higher in CAP than VAP patients (median (interquartile range: IQR); 2.4 (0.95 to 15.8) vs. 0.7 (0.3 to 2.15), ng/ml, P < 0.001) but not significantly different to HAP (2.2 (0.4 to 8.0) ng/ml). The 28-day ICU mortality rate for all patients was 18.3% with a median ICU length of stay of 16 days (range 1 to 142 days). PCT levels were higher in non-survivors than in survivors. Initial and maximum PCT levels correlated with maximum Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score r2 = 0.50 (95% CI: 0.38 to 0.61) and r2 = 0.57 (0.46 to 0.66), respectively. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis on discrimination of 28-day mortality showed areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.74, 0.70, and 0.69 for maximum PCT, initial PCT, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, respectively. The optimal cut-off to predict mortality for initial PCT was 1.1 ng/ml (odds ratio: OD 7.0 (95% CI 2.6 to 25.2)) and that for maximum PCT was 7.8 ng/ml (odds ratio 5.7 (95% CI 2.5 to 13.1)).

Conclusions

PCT is associated with the severity of illness in patients with severe pneumonia and appears to be a prognostic marker of morbidity and mortality comparable to the APACHE II score.
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Metadata
Title
Multinational, observational study of procalcitonin in ICU patients with pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation: a multicenter observational study
Authors
Frank Bloos
John C Marshall
Richard P Dellinger
Jean-Louis Vincent
Guillermo Gutierrez
Emanuel Rivers
Robert A Balk
Pierre-Francois Laterre
Derek C Angus
Konrad Reinhart
Frank M Brunkhorst
Publication date
01-04-2011
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Critical Care / Issue 2/2011
Electronic ISSN: 1364-8535
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/cc10087

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