title: Serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in critically ill patients with cirrhosis of the liver.
abstract: Concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) have been suggested as markers of infection. The liver is believed to be a key source of CRP and PCT. For this reason we assessed the predictive value of these markers in patients with hepatic cirrhosis in a 31-bed university-hospital department of intensive care. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and microbiologic data were collected prospectively over 9 months. Of 864 patients included in the study, 79 (9%) had hepatic cirrhosis. Patients with cirrhosis were more likely to have a medical than a surgical admission diagnosis (67 vs 47%, P = .03). They also had a higher rate of infection (48 vs 30%, P = .03) and higher mortality (44 vs 17%, P = .01) than did patients without cirrhosis. We detected no differences in CRP and PCT concentrations among patients with cirrhosis and different disease severity as assessed on the basis of Child-Pugh score. The serum CRP concentration (admission 11.2 +/- 4.6 vs 13.0 +/- 5.8, maximum 13.9 +/- 6.4 vs 18.8 +/- 7.3 mg/dL) and PCT (admission 1.3 +/- 0.9 vs 2.0 +/- 1.4, maximum 3.3 +/- 1.8 vs 3.4 +/- 2.1 ng/mL) were slightly lower in infected patients with cirrhosis than in infected patients without cirrhosis, but the differences were not statistically significant. Although the liver is considered the main source of CRP and a source of PCT, serum levels of these acute-phase proteins are not significantly lower in patients with cirrhosis than in other patients. Moreover, the predictive power of CRP and PCT for infection was similar for patients with and without cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Daliana Peres
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bota
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Nuffelen
authors.forename: Ahmed N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Zakariah
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vincent
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide