Procalcitonin in Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Parri, N, Pantell, RH, Carrol, ED ORCID: 0000-0001-8357-7726, Abuhammour, W, Benito-Fernández, J, Gras-Le Guen, C and Gervaix, A (2025) Procalcitonin in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Advances in Pediatrics, 72 (1). pp. 25-40. ISSN 0065-3101, 1878-1926

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Abstract

Procalcitonin (PCT) has been increasingly evaluated as a biomarker in clinical situations where it is important to distinguish bacterial infection from viral and other inflammatory conditions. When added to other clinical and laboratory markers, PCT has comparably high sensitivity but markedly better specificity for detecting invasive bacterial infections in febrile young infants than decision algorithms not including PCT. For febrile infants, evidence shows PCT reduces unnecesary lumbar punctures (LPs), hospitalizations, and antibiotic use. PCT has also been documented to accurately distinguish between acute pyelonephritis and cystitis. Implementation strategies have succeeded in incorporating PCT into clinical care.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Bacterial Infections, Cystitis, Pyelonephritis, Fever, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Diagnosis, Differential, Child, Infant, Biomarkers, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Procalcitonin
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Infection, Vet & Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	03 Mar 2025 09:11
Last Modified:	24 Jan 2026 05:10
DOI:	10.1016/j.yapd.2025.01.002
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3190614
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