:: Introduction ::

Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy of sepsis is a daily challenge in the emergency room and in intensive care units. Today various therapeutic strategies are known to improve survival in patients with sepsis, therefore, rapid and accurate diagnosis is essential. Sepsis suffers from a lack of specific clinical symptoms and signs. Microbiological cultures require time, do not reflect the host response of systemic inflammation nor the onset of organ dysfunction, and may not be positive in sepsis patients for a number of reasons.

PCT levels rise rapidly (within 6 - 12 hours) after an infectious insult with systemic consequences. Since the outcome in patients with sepsis can significantly be improved if adequate therapy is started early, the measurement of PCT to assist with an early and effective diagnosis is recommended in all patients in whom sepsis and a systemic inflammatory response is suspected.

A large database of 10 years of medical literature and clinical experience is available for PCT. This biomarker is now widely used in Europe for the diagnosis and monitoring of sepsis and evaluation of the systemic inflammatory response in the clinical arena. In the new "PIRO" concept for sepsis definition, Procalcitonin is proposed as an indicator of the systemic inflammatory response observed during sepsis.