Study on Role Of Total Leukocytes Counts and Procalcitonin Levels in Patients with Sepsis

Abstract

Introduction: A dysregulated host response to infection results in sepsis, a potentially fatal organ failure. It is the cause of extreme morbidity, mortality, and global health care costs. The signs of sepsis are nonspecific, and a clinical diagnosis is frequently challenging. A better clinical outcome is achieved when sepsis is identified early and treated promptly.Although blood culture is still the gold standard for diagnosing sepsis, delays in detection and contamination are significant barriers to timely diagnosis. Objectives of the study:to determine the levels of procalcitonin and total leukocyte counts in patients with sepsis and to correlate PCT levels with TLC in Sepsis patients. Methodology: Procalcitonin was measured using chemiluminescence immunoassay, PCT value of >0.5 was considered significant as per manufacturer’s instructions. TLC was measured by automated haematology analyser. Blood cultures were done by the automated BacTec BD system with strict aseptic precautions. Data were analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics
such as mean, percentage, standard deviation, range, correlation, Z test and Chi-square test. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In the present study, 46 (51.11%) patients had positive culture and 44 (48.88%) had sterile culture with p < 0.05. Of the 74 culture-positive samples58.42% were Escherichia coli, 20% were Klebsiellapneumoniae and 7.24% Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Gram-negative organisms in our study had higher PCT levels (15.6428.54) than Gram-positive organisms (12.3226.23), although the difference is not statistically significant. There were no appreciable differences in the TLC level or mean CRP between the organisms.Conclusion: Procalcitonin is a better diagnostic marker for the prediction of sepsis, due to lack of an ideal isolated marker it is better to combine with other markers like CRP for the prediction of sepsis.