Procalcitonin

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a specific infection parameter for severe, bacterially induced inflammatory reactions and a reliable indicator of inflammatory activity in sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
The measuring of PCT levels in indicated:
- as an acute parameter in the differential diagnosis of bacterial infections with systemic inflammation and viral infections.
- for the monitoring of patients at risk of developing systemic infection and sepsis, e.g., after surgery, organ transplantation, during immunosuppression, after multiple trauma, and in ICU patients, in order to systematically track the active bacterial infections or septic complications.
- as a parameter for evaluating the prognosis and development of severe inflammatory disorders such as sepsis, peritonitis, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.