Procalcitonin as a useful marker to decide upon intervention for urinary tract infection

Figures & data

Table 1 Patient characteristics

	Non obstructed UTI groups	Obstructed UTI groups
Number	47	21
Male/female	29/18	11/10
Age (mean)	61.3	75.1
UTI
acute pyelonephritis	37	21
acute prostatitis	7	0
acute epididymitis	3	0

Abbreviation: UTI, urinary tract infection.

Table 2 Laboratory data for 58 patients with acute pyelonephritis

	Non obstructed UTI groups (median)	Obstructed UTI group (median)	P value
Leukocyte count (/μL)	11497.3	15685.71	<0.05
CRP (mg/dL)	10.2	14.30	Ns
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.22	2.37	<0.0001
Platelet (/μL)	23.13	19.73	Ns
PCT (mg/dL)	1.88	36.67	<0.0001

Abbreviations: CRP, C-reactive protein; PCT, procalcitonin; UTI, urinary tract infection; ns, not significant.

Table 3A Characteristics associated with the procalcitonin measurement for prediction of urinary tract infection

	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	PPV (%)	NPV (%)
PCT (ng/mL)
≥0.50	45.7	84.8	76.2	59.6
≥2.0	56.5	82.2	61.9	78.7

Abbreviations: PCT, procalcitonin; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value.

Table 3B Procalcitonin ≥0.50 ng/mL

	Non obstructed UTI groups	Obstructed UTI groups	Total
Positive	16	5	21
Negative	19	28	47
Total	35	33	68

Abbreviation: UTI, urinary tract infection.

Table 3C Procalcitonin ≥2.0 ng/mL

	Non obstructed UTI groups	Obstructed UTI groups	Total
Positive	13	8	21
Negative	10	37	47
Total	23	45	68

Abbreviation: UTI, urinary tract infection.

Figure 1 Receiver operating characteristic curves for procalcitonin, white blood cells, and C-reactive protein. The area under the curve for PCT (0.81) was significantly higher than CRP (0.56; P<0.0001).

Abbreviations: PCT, procalcitonin; CRP, C-reactive protein; WBC, white blood cells.