%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) plasma concentrations at different SOFA scores during the course of sepsis and MODS
%A Michael Meisner
%A Klaus Tschaikowsky
%A Thomas Palmaers
%A Joachim Schmidt
%J Critical Care
%D 1999
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/cc306
%X PCT, CRP, the sepsis-related organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, the Acute Physiology, Age, Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and survival were evaluated in 40 patients with systemic inflammation and consecutive MODS over a period of 15 days.Higher SOFA score levels were associated with significantly higher PCT plasma concentrations (SOFA 7-12: PCT 2.62 ng/ml, SOFA 19-24: PCT 15.22 ng/ml) (median), whereas CRP was elevated irrespective of the scores observed (SOFT 7-12: CRP 131 mg/l, SOFT 19-24: CRP 135 mg/l). PCT of non-surviving patients was initially not different from that of survivors but significantly increased after the fourth day following onset of the disease, whereas CRP was not different between both groups throughout the whole observation period.Measurement of PCT concentrations during multiple organ dysfunction syndrome provides more information about the severity and the course of the disease than that of CRP. Regarding the strong association of PCT and the respective score systems in future studies we recommend evaluation also of the severity of inflammation and MODS when PCT concentrations were compared between different types of disease.Procalcitonin (PCT) is a precursor protein of the hormone calcitonin with a molecular weight of approximately 13 kDa. PCT is induced in the plasma of patients with severe bacterial or fungal infections or sepsis [1,2]. PCT concentrations up to 1000 ng/ml and above are observed during severe sepsis and septic shock [2,3,4,5]. Local bacterial infections, viral infections, autoimmune and allergic disorders do not induce PCT. At present, it is not clear whether PCT is predominantly influenced merely by inflammation induced by microbial infections, or also by the severity of multiple organ dysfunction secondary to the systemic inflammatory response. Recent investigations have mainly focused on sepsis-related severity scores, eg the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine Consens
%K CRP
%K MODS
%K PCT
%K procalcitonin
%K sepsis
%K SOFA
%U http://ccforum.com/content/3/1/45