Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28054289›Full record

Observational studyNeurocritical care2017

Procalcitonin is a Poor Predictor of Non-Infectious Fever in the Neurocritical Care Unit.

Karin Halvorson, Sameer Shah, Corey Fehnel, Bradford Thompson, N Stevenson Potter, Mitchell Levy, Linda Wendell

Abstract readObservational Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Neurocritical care, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Non-Infectious Causes for Elevated Procalcitonin.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026
    Pooled it
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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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Karin HalvorsonDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Tulane University, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70115, USA. khalvors@tulane.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5709-6806
Sameer ShahDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, North Shore Medical Center, 81 Highland Drive, Salem, MA, 01970, USA.
Corey FehnelDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
Bradford ThompsonDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
N Stevenson PotterDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
Mitchell LevyDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
Linda WendellDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
Brown University · USNorth Shore Medical Center · USTulane University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFever is a common occurrence in the Neurocritical Care Unit (NCCU). It is reported that up to 50 % of these fevers are associated with a non-infectious source. As this is a diagnosis of exclusion, a complete fever evaluation must be done to rule out infection. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been identified as a possible biomarker to distinguish infectious from non-infectious etiologies of fever. We hypothesized that PCT could be used as a predictor of infectious fever in febrile patients with intracranial hemorrhage admitted to the NCCU.

methodsA prospective observational cohort of patients admitted to a 12-bed NCCU in a tertiary-care university hospital from January 1, 2014, to October 1, 2014, was studied. Patients with intracranial hemorrhage (aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, intracerebral hemorrhage, or non-traumatic subdural hemorrhage) and fever defined as ≥101.4 °F were included. All patients had a urinalysis, chest X-ray, two sets of blood cultures, and PCT as part of their fever evaluation. Patients also had urine, sputum, CSF cultures, and Clostridium difficile toxin PCR as clinically indicated. Patients with incomplete fever evaluations were excluded.

resultsSeventy-three patients met inclusion criteria: 36 had infections identified and 37 did not. Type of intracranial hemorrhage was similar between groups. For those with identified infection, median PCT was 0.15 ng/mL (IQR 0.06-0.5 ng/mL). For those without identified infection, median PCT was 0.09 ng/mL (IQR 0.05-0.45 ng/mL), p = 0.30. Analyzing subgroups of intracranial hemorrhage patients revealed no group with a significant difference in PCT values. Patients with identified infection did have higher white blood cell counts (median 14.1 × 10

conclusionAmong patients with intracranial hemorrhage, PCT did not differentiate infectious fever from non-infectious fever.

Indexed as

AgedBiomarkersCalcitoninFemaleFeverHumansInfectionsIntensive Care UnitsIntracranial HemorrhagesIntracranial Hemorrhage, TraumaticMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSubarachnoid HemorrhageBiomarkersCalcitoninFeverInfectious feverIntracerebral hemorrhageNon-infectious feverProcalcitoninSubarachnoid hemorrhageTraumatic brain injury

Identifiers

PMID28054289
OpenAlexW2571504906

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.