INVESTIGATION OF PROCALCITONIN LEVELS IN PATIENTS AFTER CARDIAC SURGERY

Abstract

Cardiac surgery patients with elevated serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels are associated with postoperative complications. The use of extracorporeal circulation is linked to an increase in PCT levels within the first 24 hours after cardiac surgery. We conducted this study with the aim of investigating serum procalcitonin levels in patients after cardiac surgery. A cross-sectional, 52 cardiac surgery patients meeting the inclusion criteria for the study. The median serum PCT level was 3.2 pg/ml. The highest value was 175 pg/ml, and the lowest was 0.03 pg/ml. Serum procalcitonin levels between the group of cardiac surgery patients with and without the use of extracorporeal circulation were 20.7 (95% CI: 9.5-31.8) and 2.8 (0.03-5.7), respectively, p=0.15. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.42 indicates poor significance when relying on serum PCT to diagnose infection. Serum procalcitonin levels are elevated in patients after cardiac surgery. An elevated PCT value alone is not sufficient evidence to diagnose infection for clinical decision-making.