The Diagnostic Value Of Procalcitonin In Community Acquired Pneumonia And Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Objective:To investigate the utility of procalcition (PCT) in community-acquiredpneumonia(CAP) and pulmonary tuberculosis(PTB) of West China,Xinjiang.Methods:Patients with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosiswere recruited during April2011to December2011.All patients were collected withClinical and laboratory characteristics.Procalcitonin were measured from availablesera.CRUB-65score were used to evaluate the severity of the patients with CAP.Results:Of the all patients,134had CAP and86had PTB.PCT levels significantlyhigher in patients with CAP compared to PTB[M(Q)0.30(1.54)vs0.05(0.11)ng/ml, P＜0.01].There was no difference in PCT levels between sputum staining positive andnegative pneumonia.By receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, serum PCT wasan appropriate discrimination marker for PTB and CAP[area under the curve0.736(95%CI,66.800%-80.300%)]. The PCT levels significantly higher in patients withsputum culture positive compared to sputum culture negative [M(Q)0.80(2.56)vs0.18(1.23)ng/ml, P＜0.01].There was no difference of PCT in Gram-negative sepsis andGram-positive sepsis.The plasma PCT levels were positively correlated with CRUB-65score (r=0.384, P＜0.01).The PCT levels significantly higher in patients with poorprognosiss compared to eusemia [M(Q)1.59(4.110)vs0.21(1.04)ng/ml, P＜0.01].Conclusions:Procalcitonin levels significantly higher in patients with CAP compared toPTB.There was no difference in PCT levels between sputum staining positive and negativepneumonia.PCT was the useful maker in bacterial Infections.The procalcitonin levels weremore closely correlated with severity score.The higher the PCT, the poorer the prognosis.