Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the septic patients.
| Characteristics | Modified intention-to-treat analysis | Per-protocol analysis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procalcitonin group (n = 23) | Control group (n = 29) | P value | Procalcitonin group (n = 11) | Control group (n = 26) | P value | |||
| Age, yr | 69 (61–75) | 70 (63–77) | 0.537 | 69 (63–74) | 71 (61–77) | 0.781 | ||
| Gender, men | 8 (33) | 14 (48) | 0.272 | 4 (36) | 12 (46) | 0.723 | ||
| Comorbidities | ||||||||
| Diabetes | 13 (54) | 11 (38) | 0.237 | 6 (55) | 9 (35) | 0.295 | ||
| Cardiovascular disease | 7 (29) | 8 (28) | 0.899 | 3 (27) | 6 (23) | > 0.999 | ||
| Chronic lung disease | 6 (25) | 7 (24) | 0.942 | 3 (27) | 5 (19) | 0.672 | ||
| Chronic renal disease | 8 (33) | 7 (24) | 0.459 | 4 (36) | 5 (19) | 0.404 | ||
| Chronic liver disease | 6 (25) | 4 (14) | 0.482 | 2 (18) | 4 (15) | > 0.999 | ||
| Malignancy | 5 (21) | 7 (24) | 0.775 | 2 (18) | 6 (23) | > 0.999 | ||
| Charlson comorbidity index | 4 (2–5) | 3 (2–4) | 0.301 | 2 (2–4) | 3 (2–4) | 0.919 | ||
| Acquisition of infection | 0.387 | 0.293 | ||||||
| Community-acquired | 9 (37) | 14 (48) | 4 (36) | 14 (54) | ||||
| Healthcare-associated | 9 (37) | 10 (35) | 4 (36) | 8 (31) | ||||
| Hospital-acquired | 6 (25) | 5 (17) | 3 (27) | 4 (15) | ||||
| Sites of infection | 0.927 | 0.908 | ||||||
| Pulmonary | 5 (21) | 10 (35) | 2 (18) | 8 (31) | ||||
| Intraabdominal | 8 (33) | 11 (38) | 5 (46) | 11 (42) | ||||
| Urinary | 9 (38) | 4 (14) | 3 (27) | 4 (15) | ||||
| Skin and soft tissue | 1 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Catheter-related | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Others | 1 (4) | 3 (10) | 1 (9) | 2 (8) | ||||
| Unknown | 0 | 1 (3) | 0 | 1 (4) | ||||
| Bacterial pathogen identified | 12 (52) | 15 (52) | 0.560 | 5 (45) | 13 (50) | 0.543 | ||
| Gram positive pathogens | ||||||||
| S. pneumoniae | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Enterococcus | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Methicillin-resistant S. aureus | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Other gram positive bacteria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Gram negative pathogens | ||||||||
| P. aeruginosa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| K. pneumoniae | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| E. coli | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| Enterobacter species | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Other gram negative bacteria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| MDR pathogen | 4 (17) | 1 (3) | 0.164 | 2 (18) | 1 (4) | 0.205 | ||
| Appropriateness of empirical antibiotics | 0.748 | 0.646 | ||||||
| Appropriate | 20 (83) | 22 (76) | 10 (91) | 21 (81) | ||||
| Inappropriate | 1 (4) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Not available | 3 (13) | 6 (21) | 1 (9) | 5 (19) | ||||
| Clinical status on ICU admission | ||||||||
| Need for MV | 9 (38) | 12 (41) | 0.774 | 5 (46) | 10 (39) | 0.728 | ||
| Need for vasopressor support | 12 (50) | 16 (55) | 0.707 | 4 (36) | 14 (54) | 0.331 | ||
| Need for RRT | 11 (46) | 4 (14) | 0.010 | 5 (46) | 2 (8) | 0.016 | ||
| Corticosteroids | 6 (25) | 8 (28) | 0.832 | 1 (9) | 6 (23) | 0.649 | ||
| Laboratory findings | ||||||||
| White blood cells, ×103/µL | 15.9 (12.3–30.8) | 15.8 (9.8–24.5) | 0.353 | 12.7 (9.7–17.5) | 14.9 (9.2–24.9) | 0.658 | ||
| Procalcitonin, µg/L | 24.7 (8.5–55.4) | 26.8 (4.8–48.2) | 0.665 | 19.5 (4.7–42.1) | 28.1 (6.3–50.0) | 0.727 | ||
| C-reactive protein, mg/dL | 17.2 (6.6–27.9) | 15.5 (7.9–26.9) | 0.962 | 18.1 (7.7–23.8) | 16.8 (9.4–30.1) | 0.653 | ||
| Lactate, mmol/L | 4.3 (1.5–7.0) | 2.7 (1.6–4.6) | 0.289 | 3.9 (1.3–6.9) | 2.8 (1.7–4.5) | 0.506 | ||
| Severity of illness | ||||||||
| APACHE II | 28 (17–38) | 21 (16–31) | 0.168 | 31 (20–32) | 20 (16–28) | 0.101 | ||
| SOFA score | 10 (5–14) | 9 (7–11) | 0.490 | 10 (7–11) | 9 (6–11) | 0.481 | ||
Data are presented as medians (interquartile ranges) or number (%).
ICU = intensive care unit, APACHE II = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, SOFA = Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.