Procalcitonin testing for diagnosing and monitoring sepsis (ADVIA Centaur BRAHMS PCT assay, BRAHMS PCT Sensitive Kryptor assay, Elecsys BRAHMS PCT assay, LIAISON BRAHMS PCT assay and VIDAS BRAHMS PCT assay)

NICE has assessed the procalcitonin tests (ADVIA Centaur BRAHMS PCT assay, BRAHMS PCT Sensitive Kryptor assay, Elecsys BRAHMS PCT assay, LIAISON BRAHMS PCT assay and VIDAS BRAHMS PCT assay) to help the NHS decide whether to use these products.

Procalcitonin is released into the bloodstream when there is a bacterial infection in the body and high levels can show that a person has a serious bacterial infection. Procalcitonin tests measure the amount of procalcitonin in the blood, and the results can help doctors to diagnose bacterial infection and decide about starting or stopping antibiotic treatment.

There was not enough evidence to recommend that these tests are used in the NHS. But NICE has recommended further research and data collection to show the impact of adding procalcitonin testing to standard clinical practice in the NHS.

ISBN: 978-1-4731-1464-7