Key result
Data unavailable to assess procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy outcomes.
Why the study?
Differentiating acute heart failure from infection in patients with respiratory symptoms and CHF is challenging, and prior observational data suggested harm from antibiotics when PCT levels are low but causal inference was lacking.
Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Population
CHF patients with suspicion of lower respiratory tract infection
Comparison
PCT-guided antibiotic therapy vs standard care
Design
Analysis of a previous randomized trial (ProHOSP)
No procalcitonin RCT located; leaves open evidence gaps for antibiotic stewardship in critical care.
Differentiation of acute heart failure from infection in patients with respiratory symptoms and a history of congestive heart failure (CHF) is challenging due to overlap of clinical symptoms and X-ray findings. The BACH study found higher mortality rates if patients presenting with dyspnea were treated with antibiotics and their procalcitonin (PCT) levels were low indicating absence of bacterial infection. Yet the BACH study was observational and causal inference cannot be drawn. Herein, we analyzed the effects of PCT-guided antibiotic stewardship in CHF patients from a previous trial (ProHOSP).
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Schüetz et al. (2013) studied this question.
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