A 35-year-old man comes to the emergency department with fever, chills, dyspnea, and a productive cough. His symptoms began suddenly 2 days ago. He smokes one pack of cigarettes daily. He is 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs 69 kg (152 lb); BMI is 21 kg/m2. He lives in Illinois and works as a carpenter. His temperature is 38.8°C (101.8°F), pulse is 110/min, respirations are 24/min, and blood pressure is 105/74 mm Hg. Pulse oximetry on room air shows an oxygen saturation of 92%. Leukocyte count is 14,000/mm³ with 80% neutrophils and 7% bands, hemoglobin is 13.6 g/dL, and platelets are 400,000/mm³. Serum levels of which of the following are most likely to be elevated in this patient?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Acute phase reactants (APRs) are proteins whose serum concentrations change by >25% during periods of inflammation. Procalcitonin is a unique APR that can rise or fall depending on the etiology of the infection; elevated levels correlate with a bacterial source, whereas low levels indicate a viral source.

A 35-Year-Old Man Comes to the Emergency Department with Fever