Procalcitonin Testing Now Available
Published on in CHOP News
Published on in CHOP News
September 21, 2012 — Procalcitonin (PCT) by immunofluorescence has recently been launched by the Clinical Chemistry Laboratory at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. PCT is a biomarker that exhibits greater specificity than other proinflammatory markers in identifying patients with sepsis and can be used in the diagnosis of bacterial infection.
This is a relatively new test that has been approved by the U.S. FDA for use in conjunction with other laboratory findings and clinical assessments to assist in the risk assessment of critically ill patients for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.
To evaluate the risk that a seriously ill patient is developing a systemic bacterial infection.