Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the value of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels in the diagnosis of abscess and sepsis following transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Patients and Methods: In this study, a retrospective review of patient charts was performed in 2221 patients who suffered from hepatocellular carcinoma and had undergone 8656 TACE procedures from January 2012 to January 2018. According to the diagnosis of infection and abscess after TACE, these participants were divided into infection group (group A, n=48) and abscess group (group B, n=35). Group B included subgroup B1 (suffered from liver abscess but no sepsis, n=16) and subgroup B2 (suffered from liver abscess and sepsis, n=19). The main observational indexes included sociodemographic characteristics and laboratory and clinical parameters.
Results: The results showed that the mean PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were higher in group B, but receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed low sensitivity and specificity. Only the mean PCT level was higher in subgroup B2 than in subgroup B1 (P< 0.001); the ROC analysis had high sensitivity and specificity. However, all other data such as NEUT (neutrophil count) and NEUTP (neutrophil percentage) showed no significant differences.
Conclusion: Serum PCT level was a promising inexpensive marker for the diagnosis of liver abscess and sepsis following TACE therapy among patients with primary liver cancer. A cutoff level of 5.1 ng/mL for PCT had high sensitivity and specificity in predicting liver abscess with sepsis.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, abscess, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, sepsis, transarterial chemoembolization