Do you recommend procalcitonin to help convince other providers to stop antibiotics in patients with pneumonia in whom a non-infectious diagnosis is strongly suspected?   

I have looked at both of these studies in some depth. The de Jong et al., study, called SAPS, is perhaps the more impressive of the two, but regarding either or any study on so-called "biomarkers", even the RCT studies only make recommendations or give advice. And, more often than not, the doct...

Measurement of serum procalcitonin is an effective tool in assisting clinicians in the often psychologically difficult decision to discontinue antibiotic administration in patients being treated for pneumonia (Scott & Deresinski, PMID 36096429). This has been confirmed in randomized clinical tri...

My opinion hasn't changed. PCT was never proven reliable. A detailed analysis of the data showed that, as I discussed above. Furthermore, I couldn't order it if I wanted to. My practice sees pts at a hospital, which belongs to one of the largest hospital groups or systems in NJ. After years of prom...