Sepsis is an extreme response from the body to fight against infection. Leukemic patients are highly prone to bacterial infection and without prompt treatment, severe tissue damage can occur.
Febrile neutropenia is defined as a single oral temperature 38.3°C or a sustained temperature 38°C for 1 hour, with an absolute neutrophil count < 500 cells/mm3 or an expected decline to < 500 cells/mm3 within 48 hours.
Mid-regional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) is a 48 amino acid fragment that is split from proadrenomedullin.MR-proADM has a longer half-life and is a useful marker to detect sepsis. It synthesized in a wide variety of tissues and has many physiological effects once produced.
Normally, procalcitoninis synthesized in the thyroid and is converted to calcitonin. During inflammation, an alternative pathway results in the release of procalcitonin into the blood stream. Therefore it is considered as a useful biomarker for detecting bacterial infection.

Aim:
The aim of this study was to compare between proadrenomedullin and procalcitonin, to detect their sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing infections during febrile neutropenia, in acute leukemia patients.