Authors: Holm, Anette¹; Pedersen, Svend S.¹; Nexoe, Joergen²; Obel, Niels¹; Nielsen, Lars P.³; Koldkjaer, Ole⁴; Pedersen, Court¹

Source: British Journal of General Practice, Volume 57, Number 540, July 2007 , pp. 555-560(6)

Publisher: Royal College of General Practitioners

Abstract:

Background:

The role of procalcitonin in diagnosing bacterial infection has mainly been studied in patients with severe infections. There is no study on the value of procalcitonin measurements in adults with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) treated in primary care.

Aim:

To evaluate the accuracy of plasma procalcitonin in predicting radiographic pneumonia, bacterial infection, and adverse outcome in a population of adults with LRTI treated in primary care.

Design of study:

Prospective, observational study.

Setting:

Forty-two general practices and an outpatient clinic at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.

Method:

A total of 364 patients with LRTI were prospectively enrolled from 42 general practices. Patients were examined with chest radiography, microbiological analyses, and measurements of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin. The outcome measure was hospitalisation within 4 weeks of enrolment.

Results:

Median procalcitonin was 0.05 ng/ml, which was below the functional sensitivity of the assay (0.06 ng/ml). In predicting radiographic pneumonia, bacterial infection, and hospitalisation, the sensitivities of procalcitonin >0.06 ng/ml were 0.70, 0.51, and 0.67, and of CRP were ≥20 mg/l, 0.73, 0.56, and 0.74 respectively. Corresponding positive predictive values were between 0.09 and 0.28.

Conclusion:

Both procalcitonin >0.06 ng/ml and CRP ≥20 mg/l were associated with radiographic pneumonia, bacterial infection, and subsequent hospitalisation, but positive predictive values were too low for any of the two inflammatory markers to be of use in clinical practice. To measure procalcitonin values accurately in the primary care setting, a more sensitive method is needed, but there was no indication that procalcitonin is superior to CRP in identifying patients with pneumonia, bacterial aetiology, or adverse outcome.

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Supplementary Data: 1 item

Keywords: C-REACTIVE PROTEIN; DIAGNOSTIC TESTS; PNEUMONIA; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; PROCALCITONIN; RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS; ROUTINE

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Infectious Diseases C, Odense University Hospital, Denmark 2: Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark 3: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark 4: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Soenderborg Hospital, Soenderborg, Denmark

Publication date: 2007-07-01

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• The British Journal of General Practice is an international journal publishing articles of interest to family practitioners and primary care researchers worldwide. The journal's 2010 Impact Factor is 2.07, making it the world's second most highly cited journal of general practice and primary health care.

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