Clinical biochemistry
-
Clinical biochemistry · Mar 2005
Pleural fluid and serum procalcitonin as diagnostic tools in tuberculous pleurisy.
Diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis is difficult because of its nonspecific clinical presentation and decreased efficiency of traditional diagnostic methods. We investigated the use of procalcitonin (PCT) concentration in tuberculous pleuritis diagnosis. ⋯ Relative to the current cut-off level of 0.5 ng/mL, PCT concentration is not a useful parameter for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy. Because there were PCT levels in patients with tuberculous pleurisy that were below the current cut-off level but were significantly different from those of the nontuberculous group, the use of PCT should be further investigated.