Procalcitonin in the assessment of bacteraemia in emergency department patients: results of a large retrospective study

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of procalcitonin in the assessment of bacteraemia in patients in the emergency department, both alone and in conjunction with existing inflammatory markers of bacterial infection. Methods We enrolled 3305 cases (range 20–90 years) for which we retrospectively compared procalcitonin concentration, blood culture results, body temperature, absolute neutrophil count, and C-reactive protein...