The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
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Int. J. Tuberc. Lung Dis. · Apr 2014
Review Meta AnalysisValue of procalcitonin in differentiating pulmonary tuberculosis from other pulmonary infections: a meta-analysis.
To systematically and quantitatively summarise the current evidence on the utility of the procalcitonin test (PCT) in discriminating pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) from other pulmonary infections. ⋯ The results suggest consistently acceptable sensitivity and specificity of the PCT test in distinguishing TB from bacterial pneumonia. However, given the imperfect sensitivity and specificity of the test, medical decisions should be based on both the PCT test results as well as on clinical findings.