The moderate predictive value of serial serum CRP and PCT levels for the prognosis of hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia

BACKGROUND: To predict the prognosis by observing the dynamic change of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) for hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: The data were collected from January to December 2017 from the first affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Demographic and clinical patient information including age, length of hospital stay and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were recorded. Blood samples were taken for CRP, PCT, and white blood cell count (WBC). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to verify each biomarker’s association with the prognosis of pneumonia. RESULTS: A total of 350 patients were enrolled in the study. The 30-day mortality was 10.86%. Serial serum CRP3, CRP5, PCT3, PCT5 and PCT5c levels were statistically lower in CAP survivors than non-survivors. CRP3c < 0, CRP5c < 0 and PCT5c < 0 were observed with a statistically lower frequency in patients with 30-day mortality and initial treatment failure. The AUC for 30-day mortality for serial CRP levels combined with CRP clearances was 0.85 (95% CI 0.77–0.92), as compared to an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI 0.73–0.9) for serial PCT levels combined with PCT clearances. CONCLUSIONS: Serum serial CRP and PCT levels had moderate predictive value for hospitalized CAP prognosis. The dynamic CRP and PCT changes may potentially be used in the future to predict hospitalized CAP prognosis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12931-018-0877-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.