Comparison of procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, white blood cell counts and hemogram subparameters in community acquired pneumonia patients

Abstract

Aims: Pneumonia is a clinically and radiologically detected inflammation of the lungs. Most of the pneumonia patients are community-acquired pneumonia cases. Hemogram and C-reactive protein (CRP) are commonly used to support diagnosis and follow-up of treatment. Procalcitonin is less accessible and expensive. And the use of hemogram subparameters is not very common. The aim of this study was to research the relationship between procalcitonin, CRP, White Blood Cell count (WBC) and hemogram subparameters in patients with CAP and the efficacy of new hematologic rates in differential diagnosis. Methods: Patients who were diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia by applying to the chest diseases outpatient clinic of our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. 67 patients who were clinically and radiologically diagnosed without noticing male or female were included in our study. Anamnesis data and co-morbidities of the cases were questioned. Procalcitonin, CRP and hemogram (platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were calculated and WBC value was examined) were recorded. The obtained data were evaluated statistically and compared in terms of variables. Results: The mean age of our patients was 57 (18-71) years; there were 41 (61.19%) female and 26 (38.81%) male patients. 36 (53.73%) of our patients had chronic diseases; 21 (31.34%) had heart disease, 23 (34.32%) had diabetes, and 6 (8.95%) had kidney failure. Patients; 48 (71.64%) procalcitonin, 56 (83.58%) CRP, 38 (56.71%) WBC, 52 (77.61%) NLR, 34 (50.74%) PLR and 38 (56.71%) MLR values were high. Procalcitonin, CRP and NLR values were significantly higher than other subparameters. The CRP and NLR values of patients with an additional chronic disease were higher than patients without co-morbidities. In the correlation analyses, there was a strong correlation between procalcitonin, CRP and NRL, but the correlation between the others was not significant. (p