Abstract：OBJECTIVE: To investigate the ability of serum procalcitonin(PCT) to differentiate between bacterial and viral meningitis. METHODS: The serum PCT levels were measured in 41 children with acute bacterial (n=18) or viral (n=23) meningitis by immunoluminometric assay. Meanwhile serum CRP levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured. RESULTS: The children with acute bacterial meningitis had higher levels of PCT (51.73±30.75 μg/L) and CRP(182.36±54.5 mg/L)and ESR (50.44±8.95 mm/h) than those with viral meningitis (0.84±0.99 μg/L, 8.90±10.66 mg/L and 16.75±13.23 mm/h respectively,P<0.01). Both PCT and CRP had high predictive value for bacterial meningitis based on the area under curve of the receiver operating characteristics curves, 0.984 for PCT (95% confidence interval 0.953-1.013) and 0.983 for CRP (95% confidence interval 0.954-1.012)(P >0.05). All of the children with bacterial meningitis had serum PCT levels above 0.5 μg/L, but only 2 patients with viral meningitis exceeded this value. CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of serum PCT levels may be of value in the differential diagnosis of meningitis due to either bacterial or viruses.
