Correlation between locally versus centrally processed serum procalcitonin during emergency department research evaluation of febrile infants aged 0-60 days.

Introduction: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a useful biomarker in the initial evaluation of febrile infants for serious bacterial infections (SBIs). However, PCT is not always available locally and must at times be frozen and shipped to a reference laboratory for research studies. We sought to compare PCT measured locally versus centrally at a reference laboratory during a research study.

Materials And Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter study of febrile infants ≤60 days evaluated for SBIs from June 2016 to April 2019. A PCT cutoff value of 0.5 ng/mL was used to stratify infants at low-versus high-risk of SBIs. Statistical analyses consisted of Spearman's correlation, Bland-Altman difference plotting, Passing-Bablok regression, Deming regression, and Fisher's exact testing at the 0.5 ng/mL threshold.

Results: 241 febrile infants had PCT levels measured both locally and at the reference laboratory. PCT levels measured locally on 5 different platforms and from the frozen research samples demonstrated strong Spearman's correlation (ρ = 0.83) and had similar mean PCT values with an average relative difference of 0.02%. Eleven infants with SBIs had PCT values < 0.5 ng/mL in both the clinical and research samples. Six other infants had differences in SBI prediction based on PCT values at the 0.5 ng/mL threshold between the clinical and research platforms.

Conclusions: We found no significant differences in detection of febrile infants at high risk for SBI based on locally (on multiple platforms) versus centrally processed PCT. Testing at a central reference laboratory after freezing and shipping is an accurate and reliable alternative for research studies or when rapid turnaround is not required.