Humans ; Shock, Septic/diagnosis* ; Child ; Consensus ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the predictive value of norepinephrine equivalence (NEE) score on the 28-day death risk in patients with sepsis and provide evidence for its application in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis and septic shock. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted based on the data of patients with sepsis from Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV 2.2 (MIMIC-IV 2.2). The patients who received vasoactive agents within 6 hours after the diagnosis of sepsis or septic shock were enrolled, and they were divided into survival and non-survival groups based on their 28-day outcomes. The baseline characteristics, vital signs, and treatment data were collected. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify factors influencing the 28-day death risk. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to analyze the predictive value of various parameters on the 28-day death risk of septic patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to evaluate cumulative survival rate in patients classified by different quantitative parameters based on the cut-off values obtained from ROC curve analysis. RESULTS: A total of 7 744 patients who met the Sepsis-3 diagnostic criteria and received vasopressor treatment within 6 hours post-diagnosis were enrolled, of which 5 997 cases survived and 1 747 died, with the 28-day mortality of 22.6%. Significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding age, gender, height, body weight, race, type of intensive care unit (ICU), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score, underlying comorbidities, and vital signs. Compared with the survival group, the non-survival group had poorer blood routine, liver and kidney function, coagulation function, blood gas analysis and other indicators. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that age > 65 years old [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.892, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.801-0.994, P = 0.039] and male (HR = 0.735, 95%CI was 0.669-0.808, P < 0.001) were protective factors for 28-day death in patients with sepsis, and NEE score (HR = 1.040, 95%CI was 1.021-1.060, P < 0.001), shock index (HR = 1.840, 95%CI was 1.675-2.022, P < 0.001), APACHE II score (HR = 1.076, 95%CI was 1.069-1.083, P < 0.001), SOFA score (HR = 1.035, 95%CI was 1.015-1.056, P < 0.001), and CCI score (HR = 1.135, 95%CI was 1.115-1.155, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for 28-day death in septic patients. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of NEE score for predicting the 28-day death risk of septic patients was 0.743 (95%CI was 0.730-0.756), which was comparable to the predictive value of APACHE II score (AUC = 0.742, 95%CI was 0.729-0.755) and ratio of mean arterial pressure (MAP)/NEE score (MAP/NEE; AUC = 0.738, 95%CI was 0.725-0.751, both P > 0.05), and better than SOFA score (AUC = 0.609, 95%CI was 0.594-0.624), CCI score (AUC = 0.658, 95%CI was 0.644-0.673), shock index (AUC = 0.613, 95%CI was 0.597-0.629) and ratio of diastolic blood pressure (DBP)/NEE score (DBP/NEE; AUC = 0.735, 95%CI was 0.721-0.748, all P < 0.05). According to the cut-off values of APACHE II and NEE scores obtained from ROC curve analysis, the patients were stratified for Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis, and the results showed that the 28-day cumulative survival rate in the septic patients with an APACHE II score ≤ 22.5 was significantly higher than that in those with an APACHE II > 22.5 (Log-Rank test: χ² = 848.600, P < 0.001), and the 28-day cumulative survival rate in the septic patients with an NEE score ≤0.120 was significantly higher than that in those with an NEE score > 0.120 (Log-Rank test: χ² = 832.449, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS NEE score is an independent risk factor for 28-day death in septic patients who received vasoactive treatment within 6 hours of diagnosis and possesses significant predictive value. It can be used for severity stratification in sepsis management.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis/diagnosis* ; Male ; Female ; Norepinephrine/therapeutic use* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Prognosis ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Shock, Septic/mortality* ; Adult ; ROC Curve ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Aged, 80 and over

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment experiences and prognostic factors for descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 22 patients with DNM diagnosed and treated in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2016 to August 2022, including 16 males and 6 females, aged 29-79 years. After admission, all patients underwent CT scanning of the maxillofacial, cervical, and thoracic regions to confirm their diagnoses. Emergency incision and drainage were performed. The neck incision was treated with continuous vacuum sealing drainage. According to the prognoses, the patients were divided into cure group and death group, and the prognostic factors were analyzed. SPSS 25.0 software was used to analyze the clinical data. Rusults: The main complaints were dysphagia (45.5%, 10/22) and dyspnea (50.0%, 11/22). Odontogenic infection accounted for 45.5% (10/22) and oropharyngeal infection accounted for 54.5% (12/22). There were 16 cases in the cured group and 6 cases in the death group, with a total mortality rate of 27.3%. The mortality rates of DNM typeⅠand typeⅡwere respectively 16.7% and 40%. Compared with the cured group, the death group had higher incidences for diabetes, coronary heart disease and septic shock (all P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences between the cure group and the death group in procalcitonin level (50.43 (137.64) ng/ml vs 2.92 (6.33) ng/ml, M(IQR), Z=3.023, P<0.05) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ(APACHEⅡ) score (16.10±2.40 vs 6.75±3.19, t=6.524, P<0.05). Conclution: DNM is rare, with high mortality, high incidence of septic shock, and the increased procalcitonin level and APACHE Ⅱ score combined diabetes and coronary heart disease are the poor prognostic factors for DNM. Early incision and drainage combined with continuous vacuum sealing drainage technique is a better way to treat DNM.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinitis/diagnosis* ; Shock, Septic/complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Procalcitonin ; Prognosis ; Drainage/adverse effects* ; Necrosis/therapy*

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of new coagulation biomarkers including soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) and tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor complex (t-PAI·C) for the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis in children. Methods: The prospective observational study enrolled 59 children who were diagnosed with sepsis including severe sepsis and septic shock in the Department of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine of Shanghai Children's Medical Center affiliated to the Medical College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University from June 2019 to June 2021. The sTM, t-PAI·C and conventional coagulation tests were detected on illness day one of sepsis. Twenty healthy children were selected as the control group, and the above parameters were detected on the day of inclusion. Children with sepsis were divided into survival group and non-survival group according to prognosis at discharge. Baseline comparisons between groups were performed using Mann-Whitney U test. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors for the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis in children. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was conducted to evaluate the predictive values of above variables for the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis in children. Results: The sepsis group included 59 patients (39 boys and 20 girls), aged 61(22, 136)months. There were 44 patients in the survival group and 15 patients in the non-survival group, respectively. The control group consisted of 20 boys, aged 107 (94,122) months. Patients in the sepsis group had higher sTM and t-PAI·C ((12 (9, 17)×10³ vs. 9(8, 10)×10³ TU/L, 10(6, 22) vs. 2 (1, 3) μg/L, Z=-2.15, -6.05, both P<0.05) compared with children in the control group. The t-PAI·C was superior to sTM for the diagnosis of sepsis. The areas under the curve (AUC) of t-PAI·C and sTM for the diagnosis of sepsis were 0.95 and 0.66, respectively, and the optimal cut-off value were 3 μg/L and 12×10³ TU/L, respectively. Patients in the survival group had lower sTM (10 (8, 14)×10³ vs. 17 (11, 36)×10³ TU/L, Z=-2.73, P=0.006) than those in the non-survival group. Logistic regression analysis showed that sTM was a risk factor for death at discharge (OR=1.14, 95%CI 1.04-1.27, P=0.006). The AUC of sTM and t-PAI·C for predicting death at discharge were 0.74 and 0.62, respectively, and the optimal cut-off values were 13×10³ TU/L and 6 μg/L, respectively. The AUC of sTM combined with platelet counts for predicting death at discharge was 0.89, which was superior to sTM and t-PAI·C. Conclusion: The sTM and t-PAI·C had clinical application values in diagnosing and predicting prognosis in pediatric sepsis.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Biomarkers ; China ; Sepsis/diagnosis* ; Shock, Septic ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator ; Infant ; Child, Preschool

septic shock is not clearly elucidated because complex hemodynamic changes in sepsis obscure the direct relationship. We evaluated left ventricular (LV) conditions that reflect myocardial damage independently from hemodynamic changes in septic shock and their influence on the prognosis of patients.METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 208 adult patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit and underwent echocardiography within 7 days from the diagnosis of septic shock. Patients who were previously diagnosed with structural heart disease or coronary artery disease were excluded. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was divided into four categories: normal, ≥ 50%; mild, ≥ 40%; moderate, ≥ 30%; and severe dysfunction, < 30%. Wall motion impairment was categorized into the following patterns: normal, diffuse, ballooning, and focal.RESULTS: There were 141 patients with normal LVEF. Among patients with impaired LV wall motion, the diffuse pattern was the most common (34 patients), followed by the ballooning pattern (26 patients). Finally, 102 patients died, and in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in patients with severe LV systolic dysfunction (hazard ratio [HR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–3.75; P = 0.039) and in patients with diffuse pattern of LV wall motion impairment (HR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.19–4.36; P = 0.013) than in those with a normal LV systolic function.CONCLUSION: Severe LV systolic dysfunction and diffuse pattern of LV wall motion impairment significantly affected in-hospital mortality in patients with septic shock. Conventional echocardiographic evaluation provides adequate information on the development of myocardial damage and accurately predicts the prognosis of patients with septic shock.]]>
Adult ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Heart Diseases ; Hemodynamics ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic ; Stroke Volume

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of abnormal body temperature and the area under temperature curve on the prognosis of patients with septic shock. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Patients with septic shock admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Wuxi People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from September 2013 to June 2019 were enrolled. Data were obtained from the hospital case database, including the gender, age, infection source, the length of ICU stay, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, 21-day prognosis; within the first 24 hours and throughout the period in ICU, the maximum temperature (24 h T_max, T_max), lowest temperature (24 h T_min, T_min), and the temperature range (24 h T_max-min, T_max-min) were aggregated. The area under temperature curve when body temperature was higher than T (A_{> T}), or lower than T (A_{< T}), and area section between T1 and T2 (A_T1-T2) was calculated respectively. Patients were divided into survival group and death group according to 21-day prognosis. Binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the effect of the above temperature indices on the prognosis. RESULTS: 635 septic shock patients were enrolled in the study. 476 patients were survived and 159 died within 21 days. Compared with the survival group, the age, SOFA score were higher in the death group, while the length of ICU stay was shorter. There was no significant difference in gender or infection source between two groups. After adjusting for gender, age, the length of ICU stay and SOFA score, binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the increase of T_max, decrease of T_min, and increase of T_max-min were risk factors for 21-day mortality [T_max: odds ratio (OR) = 2.959, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.620-5.398, P > 0.001; T_min: OR = 0.329, 95%CI was 0.140-0.790, P = 0.012; T_max-min: OR = 3.258, 95%CI was 1.840-5.471, P > 0.001], while 24 h T_max, 24 h T_min and 24 h T_max-min were not related to prognosis. A_{< 36.0 centigrade} (OR = 1.335, 95%CI was 1.102-1.745, P = 0.014), and A_{> 38.0 centigrade} (OR = 1.041, 95%CI was 1.019-1.077, P = 0.001) showed positive correlation with 21-day mortality. When the T level was set at 38.0-40.0 centigrade, for every 1 centigrade×hour increase in A_{> T}, the 21-day relative risk of death increased by 4.1%-83.2%. CONCLUSIONS When the body temperature of patients with septic shock is lower than 36.0 centigrade, or higher than 38.0 centigrade, the 21-day relative risk of death rose with the increase of the magnitude and duration of abnormal body temperature.
Body Temperature ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic/diagnosis* ; Temperature

OBJECTIVE: To explore the predictive value of heparin-binding protein (HBP) combined with sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score in patients with septic shock. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with sepsis admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Henan Provincial People's Hospital from December 2016 to May 2017 were enrolled. Thirty healthy persons were enrolled as controls. The patient's gender, age, length of ICU stay, and blood culture results, white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), blood lactate (Lac), HBP, SOFA score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, organ failure and vasoactive agents usage within 24 hours of admission were recorded. The differences in the above indicators between the groups were compared, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of HBP, SOFA score and their combination in patients with septic shock. RESULTS: All patients were enrolled in the final analysis, including 64 with sepsis and 14 with septic shock. Compared with the sepsis group, the proportion of patients with septic shock who were positive for blood culture, organ failure, and vasoactive agents was higher [57.1% (8/14) vs. 7.8% (5/64), 100.0% (14/14) vs. 65.6% (42/64), 100.0% (14/14) vs. 18.8% (12/64), all P < 0.01], SOFA and APACHE II scores were also higher (SOFA: 8.93±4.16 vs. 5.89±2.68, APACHE II: 22.29±4.89 vs. 15.28±5.14, both P < 0.01); however, there was no significant difference in gender, age or length of ICU stay between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, HBP, PCT, CRP and Lac levels were significantly increased in the sepsis group and the septic shock group. HBP in the septic shock group was significantly higher than that in the sepsis group (μg/L: 120.33±43.49 vs. 68.95±54.15, P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in PCT, CRP or Lac between septic shock group and sepsis group [PCT (μg/L): 1.42 (0.47, 46.00) vs. 0.71 (0.19, 4.50), CRP (mg/L): 102.90±78.12 vs. 102.07±72.15, Lac (mmol/L): 1.81 (1.14, 3.65) vs. 1.59 (1.17, 2.24), all P > 0.05]. It was shown by ROC curve analysis that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of SOFA score for predicting septic shock was 0.715 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.540-0.890, P = 0.012], and when the optimal cut-off value was 7.5, the sensitivity was 64.3%, the specificity was 76.6%. The AUC of HBP was 0.814 (95%CI = 0.714-0.913, P < 0.001), and when the optimal cut-off value was 89.43 μg/L, the sensitivity was 78.6%, the specificity was 76.6%; when the two were combined, the AUC was 0.829 (95%CI = 0.724-0.935, P < 0.001), the sensitivity was 92.9%, and the specificity was 61.9%. CONCLUSIONS HBP can be used as a biological indicator for predicting septic shock, and the accuracy of predicting septic shock can be improved with the combination of SOFA score.
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/analysis* ; Blood Proteins/analysis* ; Carrier Proteins/analysis* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Organ Dysfunction Scores ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Shock, Septic/diagnosis*

The management of sepsis and septic shock remains challenging. The aim is to apply the optimal antimicrobial therapy and antimicrobial stewardship to patients in state of sepsis or septic shock. To reduce the mortality of sepsis and septic shock, it is critical to promptly administer the appropriate antibiotics with an accurate diagnosis. De-escalation is needed 48 to 72 hours after the first administration of antibiotics depending on the findings of causative pathogens. In the case of antibiotic resistance, the importance of an antibiotic stewardship program is increasingly being emphasized. Antimicrobial stewardship implies coordinated interventions designed to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics by promoting the selection of an optimal drug regimen such as dosing, duration of therapy, and route of administration. An antibiotic stewardship program may also be applied to patients of both sepsis and septic shock. Efforts such as the selection of appropriate empirical antibiotics, de-escalation, and determination of whether to stop antibiotics with procalcitonin may improve the clinical prognosis of patients with sepsis as well as the successful implementation of an antibiotic stewardship program.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Anti-Infective Agents ; Diagnosis ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Humans ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic

Diagnosis and treatment criteria were recently updated based on the Sepsis-3 guidelines, which recommend the sequential organ failure assessment for accurate characterization of organ dysfunction. Large randomized controlled trials have found neutral results with early goal-directed therapy. To improve outcomes, treatment bundles incorporating standards for early sepsis treatment, including antibiotic and steroid treatment, were developed. Thus, future research should address the effects of steroids and immune-modulating agents on refractory septic shock as well as the development of new coagulopathy therapies and dynamic assessment tools.
Diagnosis ; Sepsis ; Shock, Septic ; Steroids ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association of the clinical inflammatory indices with the severity of urinary sepsis. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical data of 70 patients with urinary sepsis treated in our hospital between January, 2013 and April, 2018. All the patients were diagnosed in line with the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Urological Diseases in China (2014 edition), including 22 patients with sepsis, 12 with hypotension and severe sepsis, 17 with septic shock, and 19 with critical septic shock. White blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil percentage (N%), platelets (PLT), fibrinogen (FIB), Ddimer, interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were examined in all the cases and compared among the 4 groups. The correlations of these inflammatory markers with the severity of sepsis were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The 4 groups of patients showed significant differences in N%, PLT, D-dimer, and PCT ( < 0.05) but not in CRP (>0.05). Kruskal-Wallis Pairwise comparisons showed that the N% and PCT in patients with sepsis differed significantly from those in the other 3 groups; platelets in patients with sepsis differed significantly from those in patients with septic shock and critical septic shock; D-dimer differed significantly between patients with sepsis and those with septic shock. Among the 4 groups, the median levels of PLT decreased and PCT and N% increased with the worsening of sepsis. Logistic regression analysis indicated that PCT (=0.186, =0.000), N% (=0.047, =0.035) and PLT (=-0.012, =0.003) were significantly correlated with the severity of sepsis in these patients. CONCLUSIONS PCT, PLT and N% are all significantly correlated with the severity of sepsis, and their combined detection can be informative for assessing the severity of sepsis to facilitate clinical decisions on treatment.
Biomarkers ; blood ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; China ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products ; analysis ; Fibrinogen ; analysis ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Leukocyte Count ; Platelet Count ; Procalcitonin ; blood ; Sepsis ; blood ; diagnosis ; Severity of Illness Index ; Shock, Septic ; blood ; diagnosis ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Urinary Tract Infections ; diagnosis