Procalcitonin versus C-reactive protein: Usefulness as biomarker of sepsis in ICU patient.

Background: Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy of sepsis is a daily challenge in intensive care units (ICUs) despite the advances in critical care medicine. Procalcitonin (PCT); an innovative laboratory marker, has been recently proven valuable worldwide in this regard.

Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the utility of PCT in a resource constrained country like ours when compared to the traditional inflammatory markers like C - reactive protein (CRP) to introduce PCT as a routine biochemical tool in regional hospitals.

Comparison of values of traditionally measured venous bicarbonate with calculated arterial bicarbonate in intensive care unit patients of a hospital in a third-world country.

Background: Measurement of serum or plasma bicarbonate (HCO3 (-)) from a sample of peripheral venous blood is routinely practiced in hospital patient managements. HCO3 (-) status can also be obtained by a simple calculation during blood gas analysis requiring arterial blood as sample which is cumbersome for both patient and doctor. This study compared the measured bicarbonate levels with calculated arterial values in intensive care unit (ICU) patients to determine whether traditionally measured venous HCO3 (-) and calculated HCO3 (-) values [from arterial blood gas (ABG) analyzers] can be used interchangeably.