• Pedro Garrido, Pitter Cueto, Conxita Rovira, Elisabet Garcia, Ana Parra, Raquel Enriquez, Armando Pinos, Manuel Sosa, Anna Hernández-Aguilera, and Immaculada Vallverdú.
• Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Aug 1; 46: 525531525-531.

AbstractBackground Blood procalcitonin (PCT) levels usually increase during infectious diseases and might be helpful to differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial origin. COVID-19 patients could present co-infections at initial presentation in the Emergency Department and nosocomial infections during stay in the ICU. However, the published literature has not established whether PCT changes could aid in the diagnosis of infectious complication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Retrospective, single-center, cohort study, including COVID-19 patients admitted between March and May 2020. The data were prospectively collected for department purposes; laboratory results were collected automatically at admission and during the whole patient admission. Results 56 patients were analyzed (female 32%, male 68%), 35 were admitted to ICU, and 21 received general ward care. 21 ICU patients underwent mechanical ventilation (88%), and 9 died during admission (26%). Non-survivors had higher initial blood PCT levels than survivors at ICU admission (p.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

24 keywords...

hide…