Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026
Detection and Quantification of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide CGRP in Human Plasma Using a Modified Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Published on: June 16, 2023
[Diagnostic approach to phlogoses: the validity of procalcitonin]
Insights
Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) show similar diagnostic accuracy for pediatric diseases. Procalcitonin aids in identifying infection etiology and severity, but routine use is not yet recommended due to cost and cutoff uncertainties.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Biomarker Analysis
- Clinical Diagnostics
Background:
- Accurate diagnosis of pediatric diseases is crucial for effective treatment.
- C-reactive protein (CRP) is a commonly used inflammatory marker.
- Procalcitonin (PCT) is a newer biomarker with potential diagnostic utility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare procalcitonin (PCT) with CRP as diagnostic markers in pediatric diseases.
- To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of PCT in relation to inflammation etiology and severity.
- To assess PCT's role in monitoring disease progression.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 141 hospitalized children with fever of bacterial, viral, or inflammatory origin.
- Measurement of PCT and CRP at admission and after defervescence.
- Calculation of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for both markers.
Main Results:
- Procalcitonin demonstrated diagnostic accuracy comparable to CRP across all evaluated pediatric conditions.
- PCT positivity was observed in 85.7% of severe infections.
- PCT aided in identifying infection etiology in approximately two-thirds of patients.
Conclusions:
- Procalcitonin shows promise as an infection marker due to rapid changes during monitoring and good correlation with infection severity and etiology.
- Despite its potential, routine use of PCT is not advised due to uncertainties regarding optimal cutoff values and current high costs.
Aim:
The aim of our study is to compare the potential usefulness of procalcitonin with the CRP as a diagnostic marker of pediatric diseases and to define the diagnostic accuracy and relation with the inflammation etiology and severity of procalcitonin.
Methods:
The analysis focused on a sample of 141 children, hospitalized for fever with bacterial, viral or inflammatory etiology, studied at the time of admission in the Hospital, and after defervescence. The sensitivity, the specificity, the positive and negative predictive value have been calculated for the both tests, explained above.
Results:
The diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin is the same as the one of PCR in all cases. The result of the test has been positive in 85,7% of the serious infections and has been useful to identifiy the etiology of infections in almost 2/3 of patients.
Conclusion:
Procalcitonin seems to be a promising marker of infections because of its following features: a larger contribution in the monitoring phase (fast positivization and normalization); the diagnostic accuracy and a good correlation with the etiology and the severity of infections. Nonetheless, the routine use of procalcitonin is not recommended in the light of the uncertainty on the optimal cut-off and the still high costs.
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