1 40 1 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. URL Address <a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0000000000000092" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0000000000000092</a> Pages 292–298 Issue 3 Volume 26 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Use of procalcitonin for the prediction and treatment of acute bacterial infection in children. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Current opinion in pediatrics Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014 2014-06 Subject The topic of the resource Anti-Bacterial Agents/*administration & dosage; Antibiotics – Administration and Dosage; Bacteremia – Blood; Bacteremia – Diagnosis; Bacteremia/blood/diagnosis; Bacterial Infections – Blood; Bacterial Infections – Diagnosis; Bacterial Infections – Drug Therapy; Bacterial Infections/blood/*diagnosis/drug therapy; Biological Markers – Blood; Biomarkers/blood; Calcitonin – Blood; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Calcitonin/*blood; Child; Humans; Inflammation – Blood; Inflammation – Diagnosis; Inflammation/blood/diagnosis; Predictive Value of Tests; Preschool; Prognosis; Protein Precursors – Blood; Protein Precursors/*blood; Sensitivity and Specificity Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pierce Richard; Bigham Michael T; Giuliano John S Jr Description An account of the resource PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Procalcitonin (PCT) is increasingly utilized to determine the presence of infection or to guide antibiotic therapy. This review will highlight the diagnostic and prognostic utility of serum PCT in children. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies endorse the use of serum PCT to detect invasive infection, to differentiate sepsis from noninfectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and to guide antibiotic therapy. Typical values for maximal sensitivity and specificity are less than 0.5 ng/ml for noninfectious inflammation and greater than 2.0 ng/ml for bacterial sepsis. PCT appears to be a reliable indicator of infection. PCT has performed better than C-reactive protein in some settings, though pediatric comparative data are lacking. PCT may aid in diagnosing infection in challenging patient populations such as those with sickle cell disease, congenital heart defects, neutropenia, and indwelling central venous catheters. Antibiotic therapy tailored to serial PCT measurements may shorten the antibiotic exposure without increasing treatment failure. SUMMARY: PCT is a reliable serum marker for determining the presence or absence of invasive bacterial infection and response to antibiotic therapy. Tailoring antibiotics to PCT levels may reduce the duration of therapy without increasing treatment failure, but more research is needed in children. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0000000000000092" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1097/MOP.0000000000000092</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s). 2014 Anti-Bacterial Agents/*administration & dosage Antibiotics – Administration and Dosage Bacteremia – Blood Bacteremia – Diagnosis Bacteremia/blood/diagnosis Bacterial Infections – Blood Bacterial Infections – Diagnosis Bacterial Infections – Drug Therapy Bacterial Infections/blood/*diagnosis/drug therapy Bigham Michael T Biological Markers – Blood Biomarkers/blood Calcitonin – Blood Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Calcitonin/*blood Child Current opinion in pediatrics Giuliano John S Jr Humans Inflammation – Blood Inflammation – Diagnosis Inflammation/blood/diagnosis Pierce Richard Predictive Value of Tests Preschool Prognosis Protein Precursors – Blood Protein Precursors/*blood Sensitivity and Specificity