Can a blood marker tell fever from infection in stroke?

NCT ID NCT01498705

Cancelled Knowledge-focused Sponsor: CAMC Health System Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Cancelled before anyone took part.

First seen Aug 21, 2026 · Last updated Aug 21, 2026

Summary

This study follows adults hospitalized with hemorrhagic stroke to see how procalcitonin, a blood marker, changes over the first few days. The goal is to determine if procalcitonin can help doctors tell whether a fever is due to a bacterial infection or another cause, potentially reducing unnecessary antibiotic use. Participants will have blood drawn on admission and on days 1, 3, and 5 to track the marker's natural progression.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: Procalcitonin level measurement
What this could lead to: If procalcitonin proves reliable, it could become a screening tool to distinguish bacterial infections from non-infectious fever in stroke patients, guiding antibiotic use and reducing resistance.
What could go wrong: This is an early observational study with no control group, and procalcitonin may not behave as expected in this specific patient population. Results may not generalize to all hemorrhagic stroke cases.

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Start date

Dec 2011

Expected to finish

Dec 2012

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

Patients admitted to the Neurosurgical ICU with a diagnosis of intraventricular or intracerebral hemorrhage

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Hospitalization for an admitting diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit * Age greater than 18 years * No evidence of ischemic cerebrovascular injury Exclusion Criteria: * Concomitant traumatic brain injury * Antibiotics on admission to the NICU * Immunocompromised by chemotherapy or HIV positive or patient with neutropenia (ANC \<1000) * Women who are pregnant and/or of childbearing age where a pregnancy test has not already occurred

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

brain disorder central nervous system disorder cerebrovascular disorder intracerebral hemorrhage nervous system disorder vascular disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

INTRACEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE INTRAVENTRICULAR HEMORRHAGE

Contacts and locations

Locations

Charleston Area Medical Center

Charleston, West Virginia, 25301, United States

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