Diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin in acute septic

Abstract

we aim in this study to accept or reject the diagnostic value of the mentioned factor in differentiating septic and non-septic inflammatory arthirtis.

Methods & Materials: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study on the patients admitted after a diagnosis of the acute arthritis in the Tabriz Emam Reza hospital between 2016 and 2017. All patients were evaluated for WBC count and procalcitonin level and considering the definite diagnosis of the disorder by means of artrocenthesis, the cut-off point was calculated and the ROC curve was plotted for evaluation of the diagnostic power of this biomarker.

Results: Seventy-two cases older than 18 years who suffered from arthritis at least in one joint for less than 14 day was included in this study; 39 patients (45.8%) were male and 33 ones (54.2%) were female. Procalcitonin level in the group suffering septic arthritis (mean 0.622 ± 0.224) was significantly higher than the group with non-septic arthritis (mean 0.3.4 ± 0.188, p=0.0001). Procalcitonin of 0.513 ng/dl was calculated as the cut-off point for the diagnosis of septic arthritis. This amount as the cut-off point had 74% sensitivity and 91% specificity.