R. Somech et al., Procalcitonin correlates with C-reactive protein as an acute-phase reactant in pediatric patients, ISR MED ASS, 2(2), 2000, pp. 147-150
Background: Previous reports on the behavior of procalcitonin blood levels
in diverse clinical conditions suggest that it is Dart of the activation of
cellular immunity and is another acute-phase reactant.
Objective: To compare procalcitonin with C-reactive protein, a well-known a
cute-phase reactant, in a series of acutely febrile pediatric patients and
to review recent literature on procalcitonin.
Methods: Procalcitonin and CRP levels were evaluated in 38 blood samples of
pediatric patients who were admitted to the Dana Children's Hospital for e
valuation of unexplained fever or for sepsis work-up.
Results: The parallelism between procalcitonin and CRP was found to be high
ly significant (P<0.01).
Conclusion: The rise of procalcitonin blood levels in febrile pediatric pat
ients suggests that it is part of the acute-phase reaction, parallel with t
he CRP reaction.