Articles: sepsis.
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Multicenter Study
Procalcitonin is not sufficiently reliable to be the sole marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin.
It has recently been suggested that serum procalcitonin (PCT) is of value in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, with varying results. The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to assess the usefulness of PCT as a marker of neonatal sepsis of nosocomial origin. ⋯ Serum PCT concentrations showed a moderate diagnostic reliability for the detection of nosocomial neonatal sepsis from the time of suspicion of infection. PCT is not sufficiently reliable to be the sole marker of sepsis, but would be useful as part of a full sepsis evaluation.
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Multicenter Study
Strongyloides hyperinfection presenting as acute respiratory failure and gram-negative sepsis.
Disseminated strongyloides is a rarely reported phenomenon and occurs in immunosuppressed patients with chronic Strongyloides stercoralis infection. Typically, patients present with pulmonary symptoms but subsequently acquire Gram-negative sepsis. Several cases have been noted in Minnesota, and their presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and clinical outcomes were reviewed. ⋯ Serious complications, including death, may occur in patients with chronic strongyloides infection treated with corticosteroids. Strongyloides hyperinfection usually presents as acute respiratory failure and may initially mimic an asthma exacerbation or pulmonary embolism. Southeast Asian patients presenting with new-onset "asthma," acute respiratory distress, and/or Gram-negative sepsis should undergo evaluation to exclude strongyloides infection.
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Multicenter Study
Recombinant human activated protein C resets thrombin generation in patients with severe sepsis - a case control study.
Recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC) is the first drug for which a reduction of mortality in severe sepsis has been demonstrated. However, the mechanism by which this reduction in mortality is achieved is still not clearly defined. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the dynamics of the anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and pro-fibrinolytic action of rhAPC in patients with severe sepsis, by comparing rhAPC-treated patients with case controls. ⋯ Sepsis-induced thrombin generation in severely septic patients is reset by rhAPC within the first 8 h of infusion without influencing parameters of fibrinolysis and inflammation.
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Bone Marrow Transplant. · Oct 2005
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialA safety evaluation of drotrecogin alfa (activated) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients with severe sepsis: lessons in clinical research.
We conducted an open-label, multicenter, single-arm clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of drotrecogin alfa (activated) (Drot AA) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients with severe sepsis. Drot AA was administered as a continuous i.v. infusion of 24 microg/kg/h for 96 h. The target enrollment was 250 patients in 15-20 transplant centers over a 2-year period (March 2003-March 2005). ⋯ Three of the seven patients were alive 100 days after the HSCT. The slow enrollment rate was attributed to changes in transplant preparatory regimens, enhancements in antimicrobial prophylactic protocols and the use of antimicrobial-coated catheters. The small number of patients in this report precludes a definitive assessment of the safety and efficacy of Drot AA in HSCT patients.
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Critical care medicine · Oct 2005
Multicenter StudyDrotrecogin alfa (activated) treatment in severe sepsis from the global open-label trial ENHANCE: further evidence for survival and safety and implications for early treatment.
To provide further evidence for the efficacy and safety of drotrecogin alfa (activated) treatment in severe sepsis. ⋯ ENHANCE provides supportive evidence for the favorable benefit/risk ratio observed in PROWESS and suggests that more effective use of drotrecogin alfa (activated) might be obtained by initiating therapy earlier.