title: The role of C-reactive protein as a diagnostic predictor of sepsis in a multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care center in Nepal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  C-reactive protein (CRP) is a commonly used biomarker of sepsis, the leading cause of mortality in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). However, sufficient data are still lacking to strongly recommend it in clinical practice. The present study is aimed to find out its reliability in diagnosing sepsis.
  
  
  METHODS
  CRP was measured in ICU-admitted patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and compared using a cutoff of 50 mg/L with the gold standard for diagnosing sepsis, taken as isolation of organism from a suspected source of infection or the Centers for Disease Control criteria for clinical sepsis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CRP had a sensitivity and specificity of 84.3% and 46.15%, respectively. Area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was calculated to be 0.683 (±0.153, P < 0.05). The cutoff value with the best diagnostic accuracy was found to be 61 mg/L.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CRP is a sensitive marker of sepsis, but it is not specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, TUTH, IOM, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghimire
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Balkrishna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bhattarai
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Bashudha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khanal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pokharel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Madhab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lamsal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
authors.forename: Sidhhartha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koirala
keywords: C-reactive protein; diagnosis; sepsis