Articles: sepsis.
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Critical care medicine · Oct 2011
Multicenter StudyHypoglycemia at admission is associated with inhospital mortality in Ugandan patients with severe sepsis.
Dysglycemia during sepsis is associated with poor outcomes in resource-rich settings. In resource-limited settings, hypoglycemia is often diagnosed clinically without the benefit of laboratory support. We studied the utility of point-of-care glucose monitoring to predict mortality in severely septic patients in Uganda. ⋯ Hypoglycemia is an independent risk factor for inhospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis and cannot be adequately assessed by clinical examination. Correction of hypoglycemia may improve outcomes of critically ill patients in resource-limited settings.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Treatment of neonatal sepsis with intravenous immune globulin.
Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of death and complications despite antibiotic treatment. Effective adjunctive treatments are needed. Newborn infants are relatively deficient in endogenous immunoglobulin. Meta-analyses of trials of intravenous immune globulin for suspected or proven neonatal sepsis suggest a reduced rate of death from any cause, but the trials have been small and have varied in quality. ⋯ Therapy with intravenous immune globulin had no effect on the outcomes of suspected or proven neonatal sepsis.
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Genet Test Mol Biomarkers · Sep 2011
Multicenter StudyThe presence of functionally relevant toll-like receptor polymorphisms does not significantly correlate with development or outcome of sepsis.
Members of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family have been shown to play important roles in inflammatory responses. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) altering receptor activity may either have detectable effects or might be without results due to compensatory mechanisms. We determined the genotype frequencies of functionally relevant SNPs in TLR2, 4 and 5 in critically ill patients (n=150) from a multidisciplinary surgical intensive care unit (ICU). The inflammatory response (procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, white blood count) and clinical classification (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Score II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment) were monitored daily. ⋯ None of the investigated SNPs clearly predicted outcome of sepsis-related multiorgan failure. TLR2-R753Q SNP may be a useful marker to identify patients with high risk to develop infections at ICU admission but should be validated in larger studies. Future SNP-arrays investigating predisposition for infection should include this SNP alone or in combination with other functionally relevant SNPs.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyProcalcitonin-guided interventions against infections to increase early appropriate antibiotics and improve survival in the intensive care unit: a randomized trial.
For patients in intensive care units, sepsis is a common and potentially deadly complication and prompt initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy improves prognosis. The objective of this trial was to determine whether a strategy of antimicrobial spectrum escalation, guided by daily measurements of the biomarker procalcitonin, could reduce the time to appropriate therapy, thus improving survival. ⋯ Procalcitonin-guided antimicrobial escalation in the intensive care unit did not improve survival and did lead to organ-related harm and prolonged admission to the intensive care unit. The procalcitonin strategy like the one used in this trial cannot be recommended.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Sep 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRed blood cell transfusion thresholds in pediatric patients with sepsis.
In children with severe sepsis or septic shock, the optimal red blood cell transfusion threshold is unknown. We analyzed the subgroup of patients with sepsis and transfusion requirements in a pediatric intensive care unit study to determine the impact of a restrictive vs. liberal transfusion strategy on clinical outcome. ⋯ In this subgroup analysis of children with stable sepsis, we found no evidence that a restrictive red cell transfusion strategy, as compared to a liberal one, increased the rate of new or progressive multiple organ dysfunction syndromes. Furthermore, a restrictive transfusion threshold significantly reduced exposure to blood products. Our data suggest that a hemoglobin level of 7.0 g/dL may be safe stabilized for children with sepsis, but further studies are required to support this recommendation.