Diagnostic Value of Procalcitonin for Bacterial Meningitis in Children: A Comparison Analysis Between Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Procalcitonin Levels

The aim of this study was to analyze and compare procalcitonin (PCT) levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as tools for detecting bacterial meningitis (BM) in children. Serum and CSF PCT levels as well as albumin index (AI = CSF albumin/serum albumin × 1000) were measured from 29 BM, 25 viral meningitis (VM), and 47 non-meningitis patients. Differences between groups only for CSF PCT were significant. A stronger positive correlation between CSF PCT level and AI was observed in the BM patients ( R = 0.68, P < .001). As a predictor of BM, the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for CSF PCT was greater than that of serum PCT (0.76 vs 0.67, P < .05) and a cutoff of ⩾0.085 ng/mL achieved 55.17% sensitivity and 95.83% specificity. High levels of CSF PCT may indicate loss of integrity of the blood-brain barrier; only CSF PCT has a diagnostic value for BM in children suspected meningitis.