The usefulness of pleural fluid presepsin, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin in distinguishing different causes of pleural effusions

Table 6 Diagnostic performance of different marker combinations (n = 132)

Cut-off value	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	+LR	−LR	PPV (%)	NPV (%)	Accuracy (%)
Emp vs. other
Presepsin, 754 pg/mL + CRP, 4.91 mg/dL	63.6	93.4	9.63	0.39	46.7	96.6	90.9
Presepsin, 754 pg/mL + PCT, ≤ 2.57 ng/mL	90.9	78.5	4.23	0.12	27.8	99.0	79.6
CRP, 4.91 mg/dL + PCT, ≤ 2.57 ng/mL	63.6	90.1	6.42	0.40	36.8	96.5	87.9
PE vs. other (excluding Emp)
Presepsin, 680 pg/mL + CRP, 2.18 mg/dL	68.8	93.3	10.31	0.33	61.1	95.1	90.1
Presepsin, 680 pg/mL + PCT, 0.13 ng/mL	68.8	90.5	7.22	0.35	52.4	95.0	87.6
CRP, 2.18 mg/dL + PCT, 0.13 ng/mL	68.8	92.4	9.02	0.34	57.9	95.1	89.3
Infectious vs. non-infectious
Presepsin, 680 pg/mL + CRP, 2.59 mg/dL	65.8	90.4	6.87	0.38	73.5	86.7	83.3
Presepsin, 680 pg/mL + PCT, 0.11 ng/mL	55.3	89.4	5.19	0.50	67.7	83.2	79.6
CRP, 2.59 mg/dL + PCT, 0.11 ng/mL	50.0	92.6	6.71	0.54	73.1	82.1	80.3

Emp empyema, PE parapneumonic effusions, +LR positive likelihood ratio, −LR negative likelihood ratio, PPV positive predictive value, NPV negative predictive value

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