Procalcitonin in renal insuff.

Q: Procalcitonin clears with dialysis?

A) Yes

B) No

Answer: A

Procalcitonin can't be trusted with full accuracy in renal insufficiency. This is for two major reasons. On one hand, the baseline procalcitonin is higher in these patients and on the other hand it gets cleared by both continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and hemodialysis (HD). 

It may be more worthwhile to follow the trend in renal insufficiency than relying on a single value.

#ID

#nephrology

#laboratory-science

References:

Grace E, Turner RM. Use of procalcitonin in patients with various degrees of chronic kidney disease including renal replacement therapy. Clin Infect Dis 2014; 59:1761.

Takahashi G, Shibata S, Fukui Y, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin and presepsin for infectious disease in patients with acute kidney injury. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2016; 86:205.