Sepsis & Procalcitonin (PCT) AssaySiemens Healthineers aids in predicting the transition from infection to sepsis with the PCT assay.

Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and death worldwide, placing a significant health and economic burden on both patients and healthcare institutions. Siemens Healthineers PCT assay can help the healthcare provider by aiding in the diagnosis of sepsis. An early and accurate diagnosis can save precious time, expense, and most importantly, lives.


Learn More about Sepsis

Early identification of at-risk patients, early diagnosis, and appropriate therapy are daily challenges for clinicians based in the emergency department and other hospital departments because the signs and symptoms of sepsis are nonspecific, and thus it may be missed or confused with other medical conditions. The often rapid onset of sepsis can impede early diagnosis, reducing the critical window for implementation of effective therapeutic measures.

Infection site

Example

Lungs*

• Viral or bacterial pneumonia

Abdomen

• Acute appendicitis (rupture risk)
• Gastrointestinal disorders (can allow leakage of intestinal bacteria into the abdomen)
• Peritonitis (infection of the abdominal cavity),
• Pancreatitis
• Gallbladder or liver infections
• Postsurgical infections
• Trauma

Urinary tract§

• Bladder infection
• Kidney infection
• Temporary or indwelling catheter (for bladder drainage)

Skin

• Skin wounds
• Skin inflammation
• Cellulitis (inflammation of the skin's connective tissue)
• Intravenous (IV) catheters (tubes inserted into the body to administer or drain fluids)

Central nervous system

• Viral or bacterial meningitis
• Viral or bacterial encephalitis

Cardiovascular system

• Infectious endocarditis
• Ischemia (inadequate blood supply) resulting in infection, leading to gangrene
• Septicemia (blood infection)


Learn about PCT

There is a definite clinical need for earlier detection of sepsis. Mortality risk after identification of severe sepsis or septic shock increases linearly the longer antibiotic administration is delayed. In comparison to treatment within the first hour, a delay of 6 hours or more increases the risk of mortality by over 50%.5

What is PCT?

  • A protein that is normally produced in small amounts in the thyroid gland.
  • In patients with sepsis, the protein is produced in large quantities by the liver, kidney, fat cells, and muscle.
  • Increasing serum PCT concentrations indicate increased severity of infection and a worse prognosis for the patient.

Challenge

  • Identifying patients with sepsis early, when treatment is most likely to be effective.
  • Reducing high costs associated with treating patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
  • Differentiating sepsis from other inflammatory diseases, trauma, and other conditions, whose symptoms can mimic sepsis in conjunction with other laboratory findings and clinical assessments.
  • Reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage and its associated costs and side effects.

ADVIA Centaur PCT* assay solution

  • Achieve measurement of serum levels of the biomarker PCT, allowing physicians to rapidly identify patients with sepsis.
  • Achieve early identification of sepsis allowing for treatment to be initiated sooner, potentially reducing costly complications associated with sepsis.
  • Gain confidence in treatment decisions due to negative PCT results indicating antibiotics may not be necessary; in patients with bacterial infection, measurements of PCT helps guide treatment, helping ensure that patients receive optimum duration of antibiotics.6

The Siemens Healthineers Procalcitonin (PCT) assay* can help aid in the risk assessment of critically ill patients for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.


Learn About the Surviving Sepsis Campaign

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign, an initiative of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, was developed to improve the management, diagnosis, and treatment of sepsis and to reduce the mortality rate from severe sepsis worldwide. The most recent evidence based guidelines were published in 2016.

Resources available from the campaign include:

  • Resuscitation and sepsis management bundles: evidence-based guidelines for the management of severe sepsis and septic shock.
  • Guidelines and instructions for implementing the campaign at medical facilities.
  • Information for healthcare professionals.
  • Information for the general public, patients, and their families.
  • Educational opportunities.

To learn more about the Surviving Sepsis Campaign please visit: www.survivingsepsis.org

References:
1. Angus DC, et al. Epidemiology of severe sepsis in the United States: Analysis of incidence, outcome, and associated costs of care. Crit Care Med 2001;29(7)1303-10.
2. Alberti C, et al. Epidemiology of sepsis and infection in ICU patients from an international multicentre cohort study. Int Care Med. 2002;28:108-21.
3. Vincent JL, et al. Sepsis in European intensive care units: results of the SOAP study. Crit Care Med. 2006 Feb; 34(2):344-53.
4. Brun-Buisson C. The epidemiology of the systemic inflammatory response. Int Care Med. 2000; 26:s64-74.
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24717459
6. Fahmy S. A new aid for identifying sepsis. Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc. 2010 Dec. A91DX-110454-GC1-4A00