Infection…what else? The usefulness of procalcitonin in children after cardiac surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Procalcitonin is a useful biomarker for predicting bacterial infection after cardiac surgery. However, sometimes procalcitonin rises following cardiac surgery without a confirmation of bacterial infection. The aim was to analyse procalcitonin levels in children without a bacterial infection after cardiac surgery.

Study design

This is a prospective, observational study of children <18 years old admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit after cardiac surgery.

Results

1,042 children were included, 996 (95.6%) without a bacterial infection. From them, severe complications occurred in 132 patients (13.3%). Procalcitonin increased differentially depending on the type of complication. Patients who presented a poor outcome (n = 26, 2.6%) had higher procalcitoni

SUBMITTER: Bobillo-Perez S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8535444 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature