title: Diagnostic performance of serum high-sensitivity procalcitonin and serum C-reactive protein tests for detecting bacterial infection in febrile neutropenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although a few prospective studies have addressed the question as to which biomarker of infection in adult patients with febrile neutropenia (FN) is superior, procalcitonin (PCT) or C-reactive protein (CRP), the results have been inconsistent and inconclusive. This was possibly due to the poor sensitivity of previous PCT tests that have a functional sensitivity of 0.5 ng/ml.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between November 2010 and February 2012, we prospectively compared the diagnostic utility of serum high-sensitivity (hs) PCT (lower limit of detection, 0.02 ng/ml) and CRP levels for detecting bacterial infection in patients with FN. Serum was collected within 72 h after the onset of FN in patients with hematological disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-five febrile episodes were evaluable. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for life-threatening infection defined as septic shock and bacteremia caused by non-coagulase negative staphylococcus were 0.824 (95% CI 0.711-0.937; P = 0.001) for hsPCT and 0.673 (0.505-0.842; P = 0.068) for CRP, respectively. In contrast, CRP, but not hsPCT, tended to increase significantly with the clinical severity, as indicated by the diagnostic classification (P = 0.002 for trend).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The serum hsPCT test may be more useful than the serum CRP test in the detection of life-threatening infection at an early phase after the onset of FN. In contrast, the serum CRP test may be more useful in diagnosing the severity of infection. However, neither of these tests was able to differentiate the cause of FN with a low probability of fatal outcome.
authors.affiliation: Hematology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, 1-4-3, Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Mizuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aimoto
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Takuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nanno
authors.forename: Mitsutaka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishimoto
authors.forename: Asao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamae
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakane
authors.forename: Hirohisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamae
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kakeya
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D064147:Febrile Neutropenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide