Pancreatic stone protein predicts hospital stay in community-acquired infections

Background Pancreatic Stone Protein (PSP) is an emerging biomarker for early detection and outcome prediction in infection and sepsis. Objective To evaluate the association between PSP plasma measurements on Emergency Department (ED) admission and subsequent hospital length of stay (LOS) among adults with community-acquired infections. Methods In this prospective observational study, 101 patients presenting to the ED with community-acquired respiratory, urinary or intra-abdominal infections had PSP measured within one hour of presentation. The primary outcome was hospital LOS (days). Association between PSP and LOS was assessed using Spearman's rank correlation. A linear regression analysis was performed demonstrating that only PSP levels were significantly associated with prolonged hospitalization, while LOS was compared between PSP groups (< 50 ng/ml vs ≥ 50 ng/ml). Results PSP plasma levels were positively correlated with LOS (Spearman's ρ = 0.369, p < 0.001). Median LOS was 4 days in the PSP < 50 ng/ml group and 9 days in the PSP ≥ 50 ng/ml group (p < 0.001). Conclusions Elevated plasma PSP levels on ED admission were associated with increased hospital stay in patients with community-acquired infections. A PSP threshold of ≥ 50 ng/ml identified patients at higher risk for prolonged hospitalization. These results suggest that PSP could be a useful biomarker for early risk stratification and resource planning, although threshold validation and multivariable adjustment for confounding are needed.