The Natural History of Procalcitonin in Hemorrhagic Stroke

January 31, 2014 updated by: Carol Morreale, CAMC Health System
Approximately 12% of strokes in the United States are hemorrhagic.1 Hemorrhagic stroke can lead to multiple complications including fever that is not infectious. Identifying the cause of fever can help physicians choose the best care for the patient to try and prevent further damage to the already injured brain. Bacterial infection is one possible cause of fever in the stroke patient; however an incorrect diagnosis of infection can lead to unnecessary antibiotic use. Better screening tools for infection are being developed to help fight the problem of antibiotic resistance and unnecessary antibiotic use. Unnecessary use of antibiotics in patients increases the risk of adverse events and overall healthcare costs. Procalcitonin (PCT) is one such screening tool which has been used previously to help tell apart bacterial and nonbacterial causes of infection in other disease states; however, PCT has not been studied in hemorrhagic stroke patients. The purpose of this study is to understand the progress of PCT in hemorrhagic stroke patients in order to see whether PCT can be a useful marker for infection in these patients.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Stroke is the second leading killer worldwide and the third leading cause of death in the United States. The two major mechanisms causing brain damage in stroke are, ischemia and hemorrhage. Several complications can arise from these cerebral insults ranging from minor neurologic dysfunction, complete immobility, or death. In the intensive care setting, clinicians combat the pathophysiologic processes that lead to the aforementioned sequelae of stroke and contest other acute issues which may or may not be secondary to the stroke itself, with one such issue being hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is defined by the Society of Critical Care Medicine as a temperature greater than 38.3°C. In one prospective study, hyperthermia was reported to occur in 43% of patients during the first week of hospitalization following an ischemic or hemorrhagic (excluding subarachnoid hemorrhage) stroke. Hyperthermia in the stroke patient can be detrimental leading to increased infarct size and worsened neurological outcomes. The etiology of the hyperthermia may not be clear upon initial evaluation but cessation of fever is essential to prevent further damage.

One possible cause of hyperthermia in the stroke patient is bacterial infection. Infection complicating cerebral insult can lead to poor functional outcome and increased mortality. Kilpatrick and colleagues found that fever occurred in 47% of patients who were admitted with either a traumatic or ischemic brain injury and 70% of these patients received at least one antibiotic within 24 hours of their febrile episode, however the antibiotics had no effect on controlling the fevers. With bacterial resistance ever increasing, it is vital that clinicians reserve antibiotics for patients in whom the source of fever is believed to be secondary to an infectious process. It has been estimated that the United States health care system spends more than $20 billion annually on antibiotic-resistant infections and these infections result in more than eight million additional hospital days. Antibiotic use across health care disciplines has been estimated to be administered either inappropriately or unnecessarily 50% of the time. Considering clinical symptoms of infection can mirror other disease processes, reliable diagnostic biomarkers would be useful in helping determine the appropriate diagnosis.

PCT is a 116 amino acid peptide with a sequence identical to calcitonin but lacking hormonal activity. PCT was first utilized by Assicot et al in the setting of sepsis to help determine whether the inflammatory response from the patient was secondary to bacterial infection. Since this finding, PCT has been shown in several studies to have a high sensitivity and specificity for indicating systemic bacterial infections. During infection PCT is secreted into the bloodstream without increasing calcitonin. PCT has been shown prospectively to only be elevated in patients with bacterial infections while remaining consistently low in patients infected with viruses or other inflammatory processes. Often when insulted, the body utilizes proteins and metabolic products, and the changes noted in these substances are often used as markers of inflammation. Unlike erythryocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP), PCT remains low during these inflammatory states. Furthermore, it has been shown that PCT levels increase earlier after stimulation (3-6hrs) compared to C-reactive protein (12-24hrs), indicating PCT can be utilized to rapidly detect bacterial infections. Normal PCT levels in adults are less than 0.1 ng/mL while PCT values greater than 0.5ng/mL have been determined to be predictive of bacterial infection. PCT has been evaluated in several clinical scenarios to help determine a bacterial versus a non-bacterial source of infection, however, to our knowledge, the effects of hemorrhagic stroke on PCT are not yet known. Determining the natural history of PCT in a hemorrhagic stroke patient would provide beneficial information as to whether PCT can be used as a biomarker in this population to help differentiate a bacterial from a non-bacterial cause of hyperthermia.

Study Type

Observational

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • West Virginia
      • Charleston, West Virginia, United States, 25301
        • Charleston Area Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients admitted to the Neurosurgical ICU with a diagnosis of intraventricular or intracerebral hemorrhage

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Hospitalization for an admitting diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit
  • Age greater than 18 years
  • No evidence of ischemic cerebrovascular injury

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Concomitant traumatic brain injury
  • Antibiotics on admission to the NICU
  • Immunocompromised by chemotherapy or HIV positive or patient with neutropenia (ANC <1000)
  • Women who are pregnant and/or of childbearing age where a pregnancy test has not already occurred

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Hemmorhagic Stroke
  • Hospitalization for an admitting diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit
  • Age greater than 18 years
  • No evidence of ischemic cerebrovascular injury
Other: Procalcitonin level
PCT level upon admission and on days 1, 3, and 5 following baseline level

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Natural progression of PCT following hemorrhagic stroke
Time Frame: Change in serum PCT level on day 0 (baseline) from serum PCT level day 1, 3, and 5.
Change in serum PCT level on day 0 (baseline) from serum PCT level day 1, 3, and 5.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Markers of infection (if obtained by treating medical team) using SIRS criteria well as cultures.
Time Frame: From date of enrollment to 28 days or until death or discharge, whichever comes first.
Sirs criteria: temperature < 36°C or > 38°C, heart rate > 90 beats/min, respiratory rate > 20 breaths/min, white blood cell count < 4000/mm² or > 12,000/mm² or ≥ 10% bands Cultures: blood, urine and sputum obtained by the treating medical team during study period and followed until final culture results are determined
From date of enrollment to 28 days or until death or discharge, whichever comes first.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

CAMC Health System

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Douglas W Haden, MD, WVU School of Medicine/Charleston Division

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2012

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 20, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 21, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

December 23, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 4, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 31, 2014

Last Verified

January 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1997096

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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