Could procalcitonin (PCT) be a marker of effectiveness of antibiotic treatment (ABT) in pregnant with not severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)?
There is no data on changes of PCT on the background of ABT in pregnant with not severe CAP. Aim: to study the role of dynamic of PCT in pregnant with not severe CAP as a marker of effective ABT. Materials: we studied PCT levels in 35 pregnant with CAP which formed the main group (age (Med [25–75%]) 25 [19–30] yrs, gestational age 30 [27–33] wks) and in a control group of 15 healthy pregnant (age 31 [25–37] yrs, gestational age 35 [34–37] wks). Methods: in pregnant with CAP PCT was measured on admission, before starting ABT (PCT-1) and on the 5th day of therapy (PCT-2). We used SMRT-CO scale to estimate the severity of CAP and respiratory rate (RR), body temperature (BT) and leukocyte count – to monitor clinical status. Results: on admission all patients had high BT (37,9 [37–38,2]°C ), increased RR (28 [24–31] per min.) and leukocytosis (11,9 [8,3–14,3]*109/l), also they had 2 or less points on the SMRT-CO scale which corresponds to not severe CAP. They were prescribed standard ABT with amoxicillin/clavulonate. On the 5th day of ABT we observed a significant decrease of BT, RR and leukocyte count. Dynamics of PCT is shown in [Table 1][1]. View this table: Table 1 Changes of PCT on the background of ABT Conclusion: dynamics of PCT can be used as a marker of effectiveness of ABT in pregnant with not severe CAP. [1]: #T1