Clinical Applications
l Diagnosis of sepsis
As PCT levels are highly specific for sepsis caused by bacterial infection, PCT can be used as the biomarker to diagnose sepsis (at a cut-off of >2ng/mL) and differentiate severe bacterial infection.
l Assess the severity and progression of sepsis
It has been shown that increasing levels of PCT > (> 2 ng/mL) or are associated with increased disease severity Therefore PCT may be used to monitor disease progression.
l Sepsis prognosis
A rapid decline in PCT after treatment is usually associated with a favorable prognosis, whereas no reduction in PCT levels suggest a poor prognosis.
l PCT guided use of antibiotic therapy
² As an indicator of when to start antibiotic treatment.
² As a marker to judge the efficacy of antibiotics.