highly significantp < 0.001
CRP was superior to the other biomarkers as analysed with ROC curves with an AUC of 0.844, followed by PCT (0.825), hepcidin (0.780), and HBP (0.742), although all curves were highly significant ( p < 0.001), whereas lactate (0.588) and WBC (0.541) were not useful in predicting septic shock (Fig. 3 , Table 4 ).