Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25992537›Full record

Observational studyThe American journal of the medical sciences2015

Procalcitonin is a marker of gram-negative bacteremia in patients with sepsis.

Shun Yuan Guo, Yin Zhou, Qing Feng Hu, Jiong Yao, Hong Wang

Open access · hybridAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in The American journal of the medical sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. One year experience ofAccess microbiology · 2023
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  12. Clinical utility of procalcitonin in severe odontogenic maxillofacial infection.Maxillofacial plastic and reconstructive surgery · 2021
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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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Shun Yuan GuoDepartment of Infection Disease (YZ, HW), Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China; Department of Bacterial Laboratory, Institute of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics (QFH, JY), Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China; and Department of Neurology (SYG), Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
Yin Zhou
Qing Feng Hu
Jiong Yao
Hong Wang
Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrediction of the species of pathogen among patients with sepsis within hours would be helpful in accelerating proper treatment. As a potential method of shortening the time to identification, this study considered the usefulness of measuring procalcitonin (PCT) to predict blood culture (BC) results.

methodsThe authors retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with a diagnosis of sepsis in their hospital from December 2012 to December 2013. The authors analyzed all diagnostic episodes consisting of BC and PCT concentration. The diagnostic performance of PCT to predict gram-negative bacteremia was tested using a receiver operative characteristic curve. Logistic regression was constructed using the presence of gram-negative bacteria as the dependent variable.

resultsA total of 262 diagnostic episodes met the inclusion criteria. According to BC classifications, a significantly higher value of PCT was observed in bloodstream infections caused by gram-negative bacteria (26.7 ng/mL, 0.09-188.3) than that in bloodstream infections caused by gram-positive bacteria (0.84 ng/mL, 0.05-18.79) or Candida spp. (1.12 ng/mL, 0.07-49.68). A cutoff value of ≥ 3.39 ng/mL for PCT showed a sensitivity of 80%, a specificity of 71%, a positive predictive value of 35%, a negative predictive value of 91% and an area under the curve of 0.73 for gram-negative bacteremia identification by BC. Among the 122 diagnostic episodes with positive BC results, a cutoff value of ≥ 6.47 ng/mL for PCT yielded a sensitivity of 74%, a specificity of 81%, a positive predictive value of 82%, a negative predictive value of 75% and an area under the curve of 0.81 for gram-negative bacteremia identification.

conclusionsPCT may represent a useful tool for differentiating gram-positive from gram-negative bloodstream infection with a significantly higher PCT level indicating gram-negative bacteremia.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overBacteremiaBiomarkersCalcitoninCalcitonin Gene-Related PeptideFemaleGram-Negative BacteriaGram-Negative Bacterial InfectionsHumansMaleMiddle AgedProtein PrecursorsRetrospective StudiesBiomarkersCALCA protein, humanCalcitoninCalcitonin Gene-Related PeptideProtein Precursors

Identifiers

PMID25992537
PMCPMC4450899
OpenAlexW2209339111

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.