Translationale Medizin
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The Role of Procalcitonin in Septic Patients A Brief Overview

Dominik Hentschel, Christoph B Olivier, Christoph Bode, and Philipp Diehl

Bacterial infections with consecutive sepsis have a high incidence in intensive care patients and are often associated with lethal complications. As early diagnosis followed by antibiotic therapy is vital for these patients, sensitive biomarkers indicating sepsis are of fundamental importance for the survival of septic patients. Procalcitonin, which is a protein produced by thyroidal c-cells, has been shown over 20 years to be increased in patients with sepsis. Since then, multiple studies have investigated the role of procalcitonin in patients with sepsis and systemic inflammation. However, the value of procalcitonin in patients with sepsis is still discussed controversial. This review aims to briefly summarize the current literature of procalcitonin and sepsis.