Significance of serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease combined with pneumonia

Objective: To evaluate significance of serum procalcitonin( PCT) and C-reactive protein( CRP) levels in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease combined with pneumonia. Methods: 158 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were divided into three groups: non-pneumonia group( 77 patients),common pneumonia group( 58 patients) and severe pneumonia group( 23 patients). The serum CRP and PCT levels were determined in the first 24 hours of admission and compared. Results: The PCT and CRP levels in severe pneumonia group were significantly higher than those of non-pneumonia group and common pneumonia group( P 0. 01). The PCT and CRP levels in common pneumonia group were significantly higher than those in non-pneumonia group( P 0. 01). The area under the curve of PCT was larger than that of CRP( P 0. 05). Conclusions: The serum PCT and CRP levels are valuable in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease combined with pneumonia,and the PCT level is more importent than CRP.