Procalcitonin - a new biological marker for severe systemic bacterial infections in critically ill patients

Patients with SIRS, severe sepsis, organ dysfunction or shock, are often difficult to distinguish from patients with similar clinical signs and without infection. Many signs of sepsis have been used, but none are specific for severe infection. Procalcitonin levels increase with the increasing severity of the inflammatory response to infection, especially in SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock. Various other stimuli may induce plasma elevations of PCT, but not as high as in patients with severe sepsis. PCT has been recently studied as a possible marker of sepsis with a superior sensitivity and specificity, comparing with the other markers and appeared to be a more accurate. PTC can be used to establish the diagnoses and to monitor severe bacterial infections.