Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Signal Acquisition, Score Interpretation, and Economics of a Non-Invasive Point-of-Care Test for Coronary Artery Disease
Published on: August 9, 2024
Serum procalcitonin (PCT) as a negative screening test for colonic ischemia after open abdominal aortic surgery
J Nagata1, M Kobayashi, N Nishikimi
1Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, #466-8550, Japan. bobnagata@aol.com
Background And Aim:
We assessed serum procalcitonin (PCT) as a screening test for early detection of ischemic colitis.
Patients And Methods:
Ninety-three patients (81 men and 12 women) undergoing elective aortic surgery were enrolled in this study. Their mean age was 70.3+/-8.1 years old. Serum procalcitonin was measured postoperatively.
Results:
Four patients suffered from colon ischemia. Based on a cut off value of serum PCT>/=2.0 ng/ml, fourteen patients had a false positive but none had a false negative result. Sensitivity was 100%, and specificity was 83.9% in detecting ischemic colitis. Negative predictive vale was 100%.
Conclusion:
Serum PCT is a non-invasive test that has a high negative predictive vale in ruling out colon ischemia after aortic surgery.
