Can procalcitonin measurement help in differentiating between bacterial infection and other kinds of inflammatory processes?

Objective: To study the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) in various inflammatory states seen in an internal medicine department and to evaluate the possible discriminative role of PCT in differentiating bacterial infection from other inflammatory processes.

Methods: PCT, C reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cell count (WBC) were measured in patients admitted to the department for fever or biological inflammatory syndrome, or both. The serum of 173 consecutive patients was analysed according to the aetiological diagnosis.