Procalcitonin as a Predictive Factor for the Clinical Outcome of Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019
10.17479/jacs.2022.12.2.53
- Author:
Sungho LEE
1
;
Jung Mo LEE
;
Taeyang CHOI
;
Kwanhoon PARK
;
Kang Yoon LEE
;
Ji young JANG
Author Information
1. Department of COVID-19 Management, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:
Journal of Acute Care Surgery
2022;12(2):53-62
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Purpose:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues. It has been reported that patients with bacterial coinfection have a higher mortality rate than patients without coinfection. However, there are no clear standard guidelines for the use of antibacterial drugs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of procalcitonin, a specific indicator of bacterial infection, as a biomarker for predicting death in COVID-19 patients.
Methods:This was a retrospective study of confirmed COVID-19 patients (N = 283) between December 2020 and February 2021 who survived or died. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether there was an association between the level of procalcitonin and death. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine the usefulness of procalcitonin as a predictor of death.
Results:In the non-survivor group, age, the number of patients transferred from a health care center, segment neutrophil ratio, C reactive protein, ferritin, and procalcitonin were significantly higher in the survivor group. In multivariate analysis, procalcitonin was identified as an independent factor associated with death (hazard ratio 6.162, confidential interval 2.285-26.322, p = 0.014). In addition, the predictive power of procalcitonin level and mortality was statistically significant using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis which gave an area under the curve value of 0.823, a cut-off value of 0.05, a sensitivity of 72.2%, a specificity of 87.5% (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:Measurement of procalcitonin and other biomarkers may be useful to determine whether to use or discontinue use of antibacterial drugs in patients with COVID-19.
