Marked Non-Infectious Elevation of Procalcitonin in a Hemodialysis Patient with Bladder Cancer: A Case Report

Yuan Cong Yan,1,2 Qiang Guo,1 Jingjing Xu,1 Zhe Wei,1 Junyun Li1 1Department of Pharmacy, Jincheng People’s Hospital, Jincheng, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacy, The Third Hospital of Jincheng, Jincheng, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Junyun Li, Department of Pharmacy, Jincheng People’s Hospital, Jincheng, 048000, People’s Republic of China, Email lijunyun888282@sina.comBackground: Here, we present a rare case of a sustained hemodialysis patient with bladder cancer who had the marked elevation of procalcitonin (PCT) in the absence of evidence for infection.Case Presentation: A patient had significantly elevated PCT but without clinical manifestations of infection. Through evidence-based investigation and collaboration with physicians, clinical pharmacists successfully ruled out infection. Consequently, antibiotics were discontinued, and the patient improved and was discharged from the hospital.Conclusion: The aim is to remind clinical pharmacists and clinicians to conduct comprehensive examination and judgment when encountering similar cases to reduce the occurrence of misdiagnosis in clinical practice.Keywords: end-stage renal disease, procalcitonin, sepsis, C-reactive protein, pharmaceutical care