Figure 2

Treatment response according to procalcitonin drop. (A) Percentage of treatment success according to the lowest PCT value from ICU admission to day 5. Patients were dichotomized according to whether the lowest PCT value was inferior to 0.5 ng/ml or not. Among the 31 patients in whom PCT decreased below the threshold of 0.5 ng/ml, 29 responded successfully to the treatment. Thirty-one patients among 64 did also respond successfully to treatment although PCT remained superior to 0.5 ng/ml. (B) Percentage of treatment success according to PCT decrease from its peak value from ICU admission to day 5. Patients were dichotomized according to whether the PCT value decreased by more than 80% of the peak value or not. Among the 58 patients in whom PCT decreased by at least 80% from its peak, 38 responded successfully to the treatment. Twenty-two patients among 37 did also respond successfully to treatment although PCT drop was lower than 80% of the peak. (C) Percentage of treatment success according the lowest PCT value and the PCT decrease from its peak value from ICU admission to day 5 (combination of (A) and (B)). Among the 20 patients in whom PCT both decreased by at least of 80% from its peak and below 0.5 ng/ml, 19 responded successfully to the treatment. Twelve patients among 26 did also respond successfully to treatment although PCT drop was lower than 80% of its peak and its absolute value remained superior to 0.5 ng/ml. On the x-axis is presented the number of patients in whom the treatment was successful of the number of patients analyzed. Six patients could not be analyzed because of logistical reasons.