Evaluation Of Heparin-Binding Protein And/Or Procalcitonin Levels In The Diagnosis Of Bacterial Intracranial Infection Using Receiver Operating Characteristic (Roc) Curve Value

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve value to evaluate heparin-binding protein (HBP), procalcitonin (PCT), and HBP+PCT levels in the cerebrospinal fluid, and find a more valuable indicator for the early diagnosis of bacterial intracranial infections (Blls). Methods: Patients (94 total) with intracranial infections were divided into bacterial intracranial infection (BII; n = 40) and non-bacterial intracranial infection (NBII; n = 54) groups, while 40 patients without intracranial infections were used as negative controls. HBP and PCT levels in the cerebrospinal fluid were tested in all cases. Glasgow scores were recorded for the BII group, and the correlation between HBP/PCT levels and Glasgow scores was analyzed. Results: There were significant differences in HBP levels between the BII, NBII, and control groups (P < 0.05), but not in PCT (P > 0.05) levels, and there was a positive correlation between HBP levels and Glasgow scores in BII group (P < 0.05). In the 611-control group, the area under the curve (AUG; 0.928) for HBP was significantly greater than that for PCT (0.802, P < 0.05), and the combined AUC for HBP and PCT was not greater than the AUC for HBP (P > 0.05) alone. In the BII-NBII group, the AUC for HBP was significantly greater than that for PCT (P < 0.05), and the AUC for the combination of HBP and PCT was not greater than that for HBP (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Cerebrospinal fluid HBP levels showed better sensitivity and specificity than PCT levels in the diagnosis of BII, and were related with disease severity.