The value of procalcitonin and blood culture in early diagnosis of sepsis in ICU patients

Objective To evaluate the clinical application value of procalcitonin(PCT) as a diagnostic marker of septicemia in ICU patients.Methods The levels of PCT and CRP of 30 septicemia patients and 30 non-septicemia patients were obtained by immunochromatography.The clinical data and correlative experimental results were collected and compared to the blood culture results.ResultsThe positive rates of blood culture,PCT and PCT + blood culture results in septicemia patients were higher than those in non-septicemia patients(P0.01),while there was no significant difference between the CRP of the two groups(P0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,and negative predictive values of the PCT + blood culture results were 96.7%,93.3%,90% and 93.3%,respectively.All of them were higher than the results of the other three diagnosing tests.Among the 30 septicemia patients in ICU,there were 23 strains of bacteria isolated by the blood culture,which mainly included Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli.Conclusion Determination of PCT and blood culture is valuable for the diagnosis of sepsis in ICU patients.