Use Of Procalcitonin Level For Guidance of The Treatment of Suspected Community Acquired Pneumonia

The purpose of the study is to learn if a blood test is helpful to the doctors in deciding whether you need antibiotic therapy for possible pneumonia. The blood test is called a Procalcitonin level and sometimes the test reflects infection with certain bacteria (germs). When the doctors learn the results of these blood tests, they may be able to stop some of the antibiotic medications that they may have given to the patients. The study is designed, so that on a randomized basis (50/50 chance) the results from measuring Procalcitonin will be given to the patients' doctor. When the doctor receives these results, he/she may use this information, along with other information, to decide whether to continue antibiotic therapy.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Pneumonia Infections Lung Diseases Radiographic Lung Infiltrates Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Winthrop-University Hospital

Mineola, New York, 11501, United States

About this study

To evaluate the usefulness of serum Procalcitonin level measured to guide the antibiotic treatment of patients with radiographic lung infiltrates.The subjects involved in the study will be divided in two arms ,study arm where the caregivers will know the result of Procalcitonin level and they can change /withheld the antibiotic for the subjects.In other arm only investigators will know the Procalcitonin level. We expect to enroll 100 patients.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Adults
New radiographic findings consistent with the presence of infiltrates
Antibiotic therapy

Exclusion criteria

Critically ill patients on admission

Treatment and study plan

Procalcitonin level, caregiver informed

Other

Procalcitonin levels will be measured and known by investigator, only 1/2 of the patients' caregivers will know the results of serial Procalcitonin levels. We will analyze the rate of antibiotic discontinuation for the two arms

Primary outcomes

Differences in antibiotic discontinuation as an effect of the caregivers learning Procalcitonin levels for the therapy of new radiographic lung infiltrates

Time frame: 1 year

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Winthrop University Hospital

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2009
Primary completion: 2012
Study completion: 2012
First posted: Jun 5, 2009
Registry last updated: Dec 15, 2014

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed