Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18421435›Full record

Trial reportIntensive care medicine2008

Usefulness of procalcitonin for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Charles-Edouard Luyt, Alain Combes, Catherine Reynaud, Guillaume Hekimian, Ania Nieszkowska, Marc Tonnellier, Alexandra Aubry, Jean-Louis Trouillet, Maguy Bernard, Jean Chastre

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Intensive care medicine, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 55 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02916277 unknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2016, after this paper: background citation

Endocan; Can be a New Biomarker in Ventilator-associated Pneumonia?

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorErzincan UniversityRan2016 to 2017Enrolled60ConditionsSerial Endocan MeasurementsArmsendocan
NCT04840940 unknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Presepsin as an Early Biomarker for Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) Diagnosis in COVID-19 Patients: a Prospective Double Blind Observational Study

TypeobservationalSponsorSan Luigi Gonzaga HospitalRan2020 to 2021Enrolled50ConditionsVentilator Associated Pneumonia, Covid19
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Harnessing breath biomarkers for pneumonia diagnosis and prognosis.Expert review of respiratory medicine · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. ARDS Clinical Practice Guideline 2021.Journal of intensive care · 2022
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Charles-Edouard LuytService de Réanimation Médicale, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière, Université Paris 6, 75651, Paris Cedex 13, France. charles-edouard.luyt@psl.aphp.fr
Alain Combes
Catherine Reynaud
Guillaume Hekimian
Ania Nieszkowska
Marc Tonnellier
Alexandra Aubry
Jean-Louis Trouillet
Maguy Bernard
Jean Chastre

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the predictive capacity for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) of serum procalcitonin levels before and on the day it is suspected. DESIGN AND

settingSingle-center observational study in the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND

participantsConsecutive patients whose serum procalcitonin levels were available on the day that VAP was clinically suspected (day 1) and at some time within the preceding 5 days ("before"). MEASUREMENTS AND

resultsSerum procalcitonin levels were determined on day 1 and "before". Among the 73 suspected episodes VAP was confirmed by quantitative bronchoalveolar lavage cultures in 32 and refuted in 41. Respective median "before" procalcitonin levels were 1.89 ng/ml (interquartile range 0.18-6.01) and 2.14 (0.76-5.75) in patients with and without VAP, but their respective median day-1 procalcitonin levels did not differ: 1.07 ng/ml (0.39-6.57) vs. 1.40 (0.67-3.39). On day 1 a 0.5 ng/ml procalcitonin threshold had 72% sensitivity but only 24% specificity for diagnosing VAP. Between "before" and day 1, procalcitonin increased in 41% and 15% of patients with and without VAP, respectively. Thus a procalcitonin rise on day 1, compared to its "before" level, had 41% sensitivity and 85% specificity for diagnosing VAP, with respective positive and negative predictive values of 68% and 65%.

conclusionsCrude values and procalcitonin rise had poor diagnostic value for VAP in this particular setting and thus should not be used to initiate antibiotics when VAP is clinically suspected.

Indexed as

AgedArea Under CurveCalcitoninCalcitonin Gene-Related PeptideFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsMaleMiddle AgedPneumonia, Ventilator-AssociatedProtein PrecursorsROC CurveSensitivity and SpecificityCALCA protein, humanCalcitoninCalcitonin Gene-Related PeptideProtein Precursors

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.