Procalcitonin Levels as a Predictor of Bacteremia in Febrile Pediatric Oncology Patients-Pilot Study

Procalcitonin Levels as a Predictor of Bacteremia in Febrile Pediatric Oncology Patients - Pilot Study

Status

Terminated

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02417168

Enrollment

Registered

2015-04-15

Start date

2015-07-01

Completion date

2016-03-01

Last updated

2026-08-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Bacteremia, Cancer

Brief summary

Fevers raise the concern for serious bacterial infections in pediatric oncology patients receiving chemotherapy. The gold standard for diagnosing bacteremia (bacterial infection of the blood) is a blood culture. However, bacterial growth may not occur for 48 hours or there can be a false negative result. Thus, the biomarker, procalcitonin, has been investigated for its predictive ability to identify bacteremia earlier than blood culture. We believe that procalcitonin can assist in differentiating bacteremia from non-bacteremia infections in febrile pediatric oncology patients. A reliable predictor of bacteremia infections in pediatric oncology patients should decrease hospitalizations for fever and unnecessary antibiotic treatment. In our study we will measure procalcitonin levels in pediatric oncology patients presenting with fever. We will measure procalcitonin at the time of admission which is part of our standard of care for febrile pediatric oncology admissions. For the purpose of our study, we will additionally measure procalcitonin levels at 12 hours and at 24 hours post admission. We will examine procalcitonin levels at these three timepoints to determine if elevated procalcitonin levels predict bacteremia in pediatric oncology patients with and without neutropenia.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

No minimum to 17 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Children between the ages of birth to seventeen years. * Present to Charleston Area Medical Center Women and Children's Hospital * Existing pediatric oncology diagnosis. * Temperature greater than 38.0 C or 100.5 Fahrenheit. * Central venous access or functional port available.

Exclusion criteria

* Any non-pediatric (eighteen years and above) oncology patient or a non-oncology patient. * The patient does not have central venous access or a port from which the blood can be drawn.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in procalcitonin levels	24 hours	Procalcitonin will be measured at the time of admission (Zero hours) and at 12, at 24 hours from admission.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
The presence of bacteremia	1 week	Blood will be cultured for bacteria

Countries

United States

Outcome results