Abstract

Cardiovascular surgery is associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and these patients are recognized to be at increased risk for delayed infectious complications. There is a need for effective and accurate biological and biochemical tests to support, or exclude, the diagnosis of infection. Inflammatory response involves the release of a wide array of mediators, which has led to the suggestion that some of these mediators could be used as markers of infection or sepsis severity. Recently, plasma procalcitonin (PCT) concentration has been proposed as an indicator of the presence of infection. The aim of this work is to review state-of-the-art knowledge about PCT and the role of this peptide as a regulator of immune response after cardiovascular surgery.

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