Usefulness of plasma procalcitonin to predict severity in elderly patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the leading causes of death among the elderly. Several studies have reported the clinical usefulness of serum procalcitonin, a biomarker of bacterial infection. However, the association between the levels of procalcitonin and the severity in the elderly with CAP has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate usefulness of procalcitonin as a predictor of severity and mortality in the elderly with CAP. This study covers 155 CAP cases admitted to Pusan National University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2010. Patients were divided into two groups (≥65 years, n=99;