A retrospective analysis of the impact of a hospital pharmacist-led procalcitonin protocol.

Purpose: Procalcitonin is a precursor hormone to calcitonin that increases in response to systemic inflammation, especially of bacterial origin, and is otherwise undetectable in healthy states. Studies have shown that following effective antimicrobial treatment, procalcitonin levels steadily decline. To be utilized however, procalcitonin levels determinations must be ordered at specific times during a patient's antimicrobial treatment.