Pro-Calcitonin Levels Following Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

First, we, the researchers, hope to find out the PCT response to heart surgery in children by taking blood before surgery and each day for four days after surgery. These blood draws will help us figure out the typical Procalcitonin (PCT) response, the normal increase in PCT after heart surgery, and when the PCT level returns to baseline. Second, we, the researchers, hope to determine the accuracy of PCT as a marker of infection. Hypothesis Our hypothesis is that Procalcitonin is superior to other currently used markers of infection and will prove to be a clinically useful tool for evaluation of infection in children following cardiac surgery.