Prognostic value of serum procalcitonin in patients with severe traumatic brain injury / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the initial expression of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and determine the potential value of PCT to predict the neurological outcome.Methods A retrospective analysis was made on patients admitted due to severe TBI (GCS≤8 points) from July 2011 to August 2012.Mortality and neurological outcome of the survivors were determined using Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) at 6 months after TBI.Results A total of 52 patients (39 males and 13 females),at median age of 38 years (range,15-65 years) were included in the study.Twenty-eight patients had good outcome (GOS of grade Ⅳ-Ⅴ),whereas 24 patients had poor outcome or died (GOS of grade Ⅰ-Ⅲ).Within 24 hours after TBI,serum PCT level was significantly higher in patients with bad outcome compared to those with good outcome (0.778 ng/ml0.094 ng/ml,P ＜0.01).Enhanced PCT level presented a close correlation with the poor outcome (r =0.657,P ＜0.01).Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.879 [95％ CI (0.757,1.000)].A cutoff value of 0.2 ng/ml had a sensitivity of 100％ and a specificity of 72.2％.Once the PCT level was superior to 4.7 ng/ml,none of the patients regained consciousness.Conclusion PCT is a simple and effective method for prediction of the outcome after severe TBI.