Bacteremia and MR-proANP changes in mild community-acquired pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) increases with severity in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We investigated whether changes of MR-proANP correlated to bacteremia. METHODS: 392 adult patients with CAP visiting emergency department from a prospective observational multicenter study. RESULTS: MR-proANP levels increased in patients with positive bacteremia (92.8 pmol/L vs. 84.3 pmol/L, p = 0.04). Performance of MR-proANP to detect bacteremia (0.60) was equivalent to CRP (0.59) but less accurate than PCT (0.69). CONCLUSION: MR-ANP poorly predicts bacteremia in CAP patients.