Background: Sepsis is considered one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Sepsis investigation tools are designed to assist early identification, however, there is wide variation in predictive values. Procalcitonin (PCT) has features of a biomarker as there is a timely and specific increase in bacterial sepsis.

Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the role of PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) as predictors of sepsis among suspected cases of sepsis.

 Materials and methods: A prospective observational single-center study was conducted. Patients suspected of sepsis having a fever ≥38ºC at the time of admission, aged ≥18 years were included. Blood samples of subjects for blood cultures, PCT, and CRP levels were obtained. Sensitivity and specificity were measured by taking blood culture as the gold standard.

Results: Out of 80 cases included 26 patients had bacterial growth on blood culture. The mean value of PCT in the culture positive and the negative group was 14.62±15.00 and 4.83±7.17 ng/ml respectively. CRP mean levels in the culture positive were 40.22±18.54 and in the culture negative group were 37.82±19.15 mg/L. At a serum PCT cut-off of 4ng/ml, sensitivity and specificity were found to be 76.9% and 72.2% respectively. For a cut-off of 38mg/L, CRP showed a sensitivity of 46.1% and a specificity of 72.2%. Furthermore, ROC analysis showed PCT having an AUC=0.71 performed more efficiently than the AUC=0.54 of CRP.

Conclusion: The use of PCT as a tool for diagnosing sepsis proved to be a reliable timely biomarker and more applicable than CRP in patients suggestive of sepsis. Depending on the etiology of the infection, PCT can be a valuable approach in the emergency department.