• Kundan Kumar, Samir Mohindra, Mithun Raj, and Gourdas Choudhuri.
• Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), MRA-A23, SGPGI Campus, Rae Bareli Road, Lucknow, 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India. kundanjip@gmail.com.
• Hepatol Int. 2014 Jul 1; 8 (3): 436-42.

BackgroundEarly diagnosis of sepsis in alcoholic hepatitis is important for selecting the appropriate therapy. The role of procalcitonin (PCT) to diagnose sepsis in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is not yet clear.MethodsAll patients admitted with alcoholic hepatitis and SIRS underwent measurement of serum PCT and C reactive protein (CRP) levels within 24 h of admission. Patients were classified into two groups: group 1, alcoholic hepatitis with SIRS alone; group 2, alcoholic hepatitis with SIRS and sepsis. The ability of PCT to predict sepsis was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analyses to compare the two groups.ResultsThe study included 11 patients in group 1 and 29 in group 2. All were male (median age 42 years; range, 24-65 years). Age, dose and duration of alcohol intake, biochemical parameters and median MELD score were not significantly different between the two groups. PCT and CRP were significantly higher among group 2 than group 1 patients (p < 0.05). ROC analysis showed an AUC of 0.81 (95 % CI 0.66-0.96) and 0.83 (95 % CI 0.68-0.93) for PCT and CRP, respectively, in distinguishing sepsis from SIRS without sepsis. A cutoff level of 0.57 mcg/l for PCT (sensitivity 79 %, specificity 82 %) for diagnosing sepsis in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and SIRS was comparable to a serum CRP cutoff level of 2.3 mg/dl (sensitivity 82.0 %, specificity 75 %).ConclusionSerum PCT can be a useful marker for diagnosing sepsis in patients with alcoholic hepatitis and SIRS and compares favorably with serum CRP levels.

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