ichroma™ PCT

Identifying sepsis is a daily challenge in intensive care unit of every hospital. Early assessment of sepsis is vital for determination of the appropriate treatment since various therapeutic strategies are known to improve survival of patients with sepsis.

In healthy people, the concentration of plasma PCT is below 0.1 ng/mL. The level of PCT rises rapidly after a bacterial infection with systemic consequences. It can also be elevated by other situation such as major surgery, severe burns, or in neonates. However, it returns to baseline rapidly. Viral infections, bacterial colonization, localized infections, allergic disorders, autoimmune diseases, and transplant rejection do not usually induce a significant PCT response (values <0.5 ng/mL). Therefore, by evaluating PCT concentrations, the physicians are able to engage in the risk assessment for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.