Procalcitonin
(Specimen Container)
SST (Tiger Top), Alternative Specimen(s):
Plasma collected in EDTA (lavender top) tube, sodium heparin (green-top) tube, or lithium heparin (green-top) tube
(Transport Temperature)
| Temperature | Period |
|---|---|
| Room temperature | Unacceptable |
| Refrigerated | 5 days |
| Frozen | 28 days |
Allow blood (red-top) to fully coagulate at room temperature. Within 1 hour of collection, centrifuge serum at 2000 rpm for 10 minutes. Immediately transfer serum into a clean plastic screw-capped vial and refrigerate. Transport Refrigerated.
Used in the diagnosis of bacteremia and septicemia in adults and children (including neonates), renal involvement in urinary tract infection in children, bacterial infection in neutropenic patients, and in the diagnosis, risk stratification, and monitoring of septic shock, systemic secondary infection post-surgery, as well as in severe trauma, burns, and multiorgan failure. Differential diagnosis of bacterial versus viral meningitis. Differential diagnosis of community-acquired bacterial versus viral pneumonia. Monitoring of therapeutic response to antibacterial therapy.
Procalcitonin <0.10 ng/mL
Neonate Reference Ranges
Ages in hours PCT (ng/mL)
<2.00 (At birth)
<20.00 (18-20 hours)
<5.00 (48 hours)
