Clinical relevance of serum procalcitonin in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Cerebral vasospasm (CV), which is closely related to the prognosis of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), is known to be related to an inflammatory reaction. The aim of the present study was to investigate predictable values of procalcitonin (PCT) for systemic infection and the development of CV in patients with aSAH. Patients who underwent endovascular treatment for aSAH were retrospectively enrolled. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to evaluate the predicable value of PCT for systemic infection and CV in patients with aSAH. To clarify the association of PCT and CV, additional subgroup analysis was performed for patients without systemic infection. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the associations of PCT and the development of CV. A total of 374 patients with aSAH were enrolled. Of them, 164 (43.9%) had systemic infection. Optimal cutoff value of PCT for systemic infection was 0.21 ng/ml (P<0.001). In subgroup analysis of 210 patients without infection, 0.09 ng/ml of PCT level was defined as the optimal cutoff value for predicting CV after aSAH (P<0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, PCT was a significant predicting factor for CV (odds ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.42-2.96; P=0.015). Overall, PCT had predictable value for systemic infection and the development of CV in patients who underwent endovascular treatment for aSAH. Further studies are needed to validate our results and establish its clinical applicability.