Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin, Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, and C-Reactive Protein in Detection of Bacterial Infections and Prediction of Outcome in Nonneutropenic Febrile Patients with Lung Malignancy

Table 6

The levels of WBC, NEU, and NLR measured on presentation with microbiologically documented infections, in bacteria-infected subgroup B with high and low levels of PCT.

Variable	High PCT group (≥0.23 ng/mL) median (range)	Low PCT group (<0.23 ng/mL) median (range)	value Mann–Whitney
PCT (ng/mL)	0.67 (0.23, 100)^a	0.09 (0.03, 0.23)	<0.0001
WBC (10^9/L)	11.61 (1.1, 42.54)	8.84 (2.82, 26.24)	0.0124
NEU (10^9/L)	9.73 (0.73, 41.32)	6.905 (1.35, 22.65)	0.0011
NLR	14.42 (1.14, 190.38)	6.485 (1.03, 66.79)	<0.0001

^aNot to overestimate possible differences between the two groups, the values reported as > 100 by the laboratory were noted as “100” for statistical analysis. PCT: procalcitonin; NEU: neutrophil; NLR: neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio.