The evaluation of presepsin level and bacterial infection in neutropenic patients

Aim: Neutropenia is a life-threatening condition that is seen as a complication of chemotherapy, especially in cancer patients, if the patient is infected. Early treatment of the infection has aimportant effect on mortality. Our aim in this study is to investigate the usability of presepsin in terms of diagnosis of bacterial infection in patients who are neutropenic after chemotherapy. Methods: In this study, presepsin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), CRP (C-reactive protein), and procalcitonin were measured in 25 neutropenic patients, and a comparison was made between those who were culture positive and negative, those who had a fever and those who did not. In addition, presepsin and CRP values were compared with the control group of 22 people. Results: Presepsin, CRP, ESR and procalcitonin were significantly higher in those who did not reproduce in each culture (p<0.001, p=0.003, p=0.026, p<0.01, respectively) compared to those who did not have a fever (p<0.001, p<0.001, p < 0.001, p=0.019, respectively). Conclusion: Presepsin has the potential to be used in the early evaluation of bacterial infection in neutropenic patients. However, more work should be done on this issue.