Elevation of procalcitonin after implantation of an interventional lung assist device in critically ill patients.

A pumpless interventional arteriovenous lung assist device (iLA) facilitates the removal of carbon dioxide from the blood and is used as part of the lung-protective ventilation strategy in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In case of bacterial infection, delayed antimicrobial therapy increases the mortality in this group of high-risk critically ill patients, whereas overtreatment promotes bacterial resistance and leads to increased drug toxicity and costs. Besides clinical signs and symptoms, antimicrobial treatment is based on the kinetics of biomarkers such as procalcitonin (PCT).