View clinical trials related to Procalcitonin.
Filter by:Procalcitonin is a protein consisting of 116 amino-acids which can rapidly rise under inflammatory conditions and sepsis. More than 20 years ago it has been shown that dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) cleaves procalcitonin from the n-terminus, resulting in a truncated procalcitonin-variant which consists of 114 aminoacids. Within their workgroup the investigators found that the truncated procalcitonin-variant had deleterious effects on vascular integrity during sepsis in mice. However, it is unknown if this applies also in humans. By using an ELISA-assay the investigators want to examine the ratio between native and truncated human procalcitonin during diseases accompanied with hyperprocalcitoninemia and correlate the results with clinical data.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of serum values of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate to predict postoperative complications in the early postoperative period after open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).
Association between plasma procalcitonin levels and positive blood cultures in critical illness patients in the ICU.
The timely use of antibiotics can reduce morbidity and mortality associated with bacterial infections, particularly in the intensive care unit setting (ICU). Long courses of antibiotics, however, are associated with the emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms and antibiotic-associated adverse events, such as C. difficile infections. Thus, antibiotic de-escalation is an important goal of antimicrobial stewardship programs. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been investigated as a biomarker for critically ill adult patients with bacterial infection, particularly pneumonia and sepsis. The proposed project will evaluate whether a PCT testing and treatment algorithm, implemented through daily antimicrobial stewardship audit and feedback, can promote early and safe antibiotic de-escalation in the pediatric ICU.
The investigators' objective is to compare the risk of treatment failure* in children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with sepsis and managed by procalcitonin guided therapy for stopping of antibiotics ('PCT- guided therapy' group) with those managed with standard practices based on the evidence based guidelines ('control' group). Children with suspected or proven sepsis will be randomized to the PCT guided group or the standard practices group and will be followed up for the outcome measures that include treatment failure and mortality. The investigators plan to enroll 560 patients over a period of 3 years. The investigators believe that the proposed study will provide the answer to reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in the PICU without causing any harm to the patient in the form of treatment failure and/or mortality.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of procalcitonin test for differentiation of the cause of pneumonia in patients with cancer.
To explore effectiveness of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy in acute exacerbations of bronchiectasis, and to explore the clinical value of procalcitonin in bronchiectasis.
This study is designed to demonstrate the value of Procalcitonin (PCT) in assisting the rapid diagnosis of post- operative infection that includes elevation of Procalcitonin above and beyond the changes seen with the acute and inflammatory response induced by cardio-pulmonary bypass. Procalcitonin is an innovative and highly specific biomarker for clinically relevant severe bacterial infections and sepsis. PCT supports early diagnosis and clinical decision making.This is a prospective single center study designed to assess the normal change in PCT levels following major surgery and the utilization of PCT regarding the diagnosis of infection and the response to treatment, following major cardiac surgery
Serious bacterial infections are often difficult to detect in children with fever without source. Procalcitonin is a better blood marker of infection than White blood cell count and possibly than C-reactive protein. This could lead to a reduction in antibiotic prescription. Our objective is to evaluate the impact of Procalcitonin result on antibiotic prescription in children 1 to 36 month old with fever without source and our hypothesis is that it will lower the antibiotic prescription rate