• E Villarreal, K Vacacela, M Gordon, C Calabuig, R Alonso, J Ruiz, P Kot, D Babiloni, and P Ramírez.
• Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, España.
• Med Intensiva. 2016 Mar 1; 40 (2): 84-9.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) for diagnosing infection in patients with liver cirrhosis admitted to an Intensive Care Unit.DesignA retrospective study was carried out.ScopeIntensive Care Unit. Versatile, twenty-four beds. Participants Patients with liver cirrhosis admitted to our Intensive Care Unit in the last four years with suspected infection and measurement of PCT.ResultsAmong the 255 patients with cirrhosis admitted to our unit, PCT was determined for the differential diagnosis of infection in 69 cases (27%). Three patients were excluded from analysis due to a lack of clinical data. The average stay was 10.6 ± 9.2 days, with a mortality rate of 65%. The origin of cirrhosis was mainly viral (57%) or alcoholic (37%). The Child-Pugh and MELD scores were 9.5 ± 2 and 23 ± 8, respectively. Infection was diagnosed in 54 patients (82%). The most common infection was pneumonia (72%), followed by intraabdominal infections (18%) and bacteremia (5%). In patients without infection, the median PCT concentration was 0.57 ng/ml (range 0.28 to 1.14) versus 2.99 (1.31 to 9.4) in those with infection (p<.001). Diagnostic capacity was maintained in patients with intraabdominal infections. The diagnostic cutoff point was set at 0.8 ng/ml (sensitivity 83%, specificity 75%, AUC 0.82 [0.702-0.93]).ConclusionsIn patients with liver cirrhosis, PCT is useful for identifying bacterial infections, including intraabdominal processes.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

16 keywords...

hide…