Usefulness of serum procalcitonin as a diagnostic biomarker of infection in children with chronic kidney disease.

Introduction: Serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels are known to be low in healthy individuals in healthy subjects but are increased in patients with a severe bacterial infection. It has not been extensively studied in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD), treated either with hemodialysis (HD) or with renal transplantation.

Material And Methods: During a 6-month period, blood samples were taken from 102 (55 HD children and 47 renal transplant recipients) children with a strong clinical suspicion of infection.