scholarly journals A novel procalcitonin-based score for detecting sepsis among critically ill patients

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245748
Author(s):  
Tung-Lin Tsui ◽  
Ya-Ting Huang ◽  
Wei-Chih Kan ◽  
Mao-Sheng Huang ◽  
Min-Yu Lai ◽  
...  

Background Procalcitonin (PCT) has been widely investigated as an infection biomarker. The study aimed to prove that serum PCT, combining with other relevant variables, has an even better sepsis-detecting ability in critically ill patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a regional teaching hospital enrolling eligible patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) between July 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016, and followed them until March 31, 2017. The primary outcome measurement was the occurrence of sepsis. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the independent factors for sepsis and constructed a novel PCT-based score containing these factors. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) was applied to evaluate sepsis-detecting abilities. Finally, we validated the score using a validation cohort. Results A total of 258 critically ill patients (70.9±16.3 years; 55.4% man) were enrolled in the derivation cohort and further subgrouped into the sepsis group (n = 115) and the non-sepsis group (n = 143). By using the multivariate logistic regression analysis, we disclosed five independent factors for detecting sepsis, namely, “serum PCT level,” “albumin level” and “neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio” at ICU admission, along with “diabetes mellitus,” and “with vasopressor.” We subsequently constructed a PCT-based score containing the five weighted factors. The PCT-based score performed well in detecting sepsis with the cut-points of 8 points (AUROC 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74–0.85; sensitivity 0.70; specificity 0.76), which was better than PCT alone, C-reactive protein and infection probability score. The findings were confirmed using an independent validation cohort (n = 72, 69.2±16.7 years, 62.5% men) (cut-point: 8 points; AUROC, 0.79; 95% CI 0.69–0.90; sensitivity 0.64; specificity 0.87). Conclusions We proposed a novel PCT-based score that performs better in detecting sepsis than serum PCT levels alone, C-reactive protein, and infection probability score.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunpeng Xing ◽  
Shaolin Ma ◽  
Yuxi Zhou ◽  
Ming Lei ◽  
Gang Feng ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To study the incidence and risk factors of postoperative clinical delirium in critically ill elderly patients in order to devise strategies for prevention and treatment.Methods: We collected clinical data from 451 critically ill patients in the intensive care unit from four hospitals in Shanghai Pudong New Area. Postoperative delirium was measured using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU), and then the incidence of postoperative delirium was calculated. We used univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the risk factors associated with postoperative delirium in critically ill elderly patients.Results: Among the 451 critically ill patients, 56 had delirium after operation. The incidence of postoperative delirium was 12.4%. Univariate analysis showed that the incidence of postoperative delirium was significantly higher (P <0.05) in patients who had a past history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), underwent emergency surgery, were not administered intraoperative Propofol, had postoperative hypertension, were administered postoperative methylprednisolone, and did not have postoperative analgesia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.111, 95% CI, 1.056-1.168), surgical timing (OR=1.154, 95% CI, 1.058-7.200), and use of methylprednisolone postoperatively (OR=8.030, 95% CI, 1.050-61.408) were risk factors. Use of Propofol intraoperatively (OR=0.315, 95%CI, 0.124-0.800) was protective factors for postoperative delirium in elderly critically ill patients.Conclusion: Adavanced age, COPD history, emergency surgery, postoperative hypertension, use of methylprednisolone, and no postoperative analgesia are risk factors for postoperative delirium in critically ill elderly patients. Medical staff should be educated in evaluating delirium in postoperative patients and conducting risk assessment in order to prevent and treat the disease earlier, and reduce the incidence of delirium.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Yaohua Yu ◽  
Weiwei Wu ◽  
Yanyan Dong ◽  
Jiliang Li

Background. Sepsis is a leading cause of mortality among severe burns. This study was conducted to investigate the predictive role of C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) for sepsis and prognosis in severe burns. Methods. Patients with severe burn injuries from 2013 to 2017 were enrolled and divided into septic and nonseptic groups based on the presence of sepsis within 30 days postburn. Independent risk factors for sepsis were performed by the univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The association between CAR level at admission and postburn 30-day mortality was designed via the Kaplan–Meier method. Results. Of all the 196 enrolled patients, 83 patients developed sepsis within 30 days postburn injury, with an incidence of 42.3%. TBSA percentage (OR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.17-2.32, P = 0.014 ) and CAR at admission (OR: 2.25, 95% CI: 1.33-3.56, P = 0.009 ) were the two independent risk factors for sepsis in severe burns by the multivariate logistic regression analysis. A higher CAR level (≥1.66) at admission was associated with a lower postburn 30-day survival rate ( P = 0.005 ). Conclusions. The CAR level at admission was an independent risk factor for sepsis and prognosis in severe burns.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyue Wang ◽  
Yan Xu ◽  
Huang Huang ◽  
Desheng Jiang ◽  
Chunlei Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to identify early warning signs for severe novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (COVID-19). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 90 patients with COVID-19 from Guanggu District of Hubei Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center comprising 60 mild cases and 30 severe cases. The demographic data, underlying diseases, clinical manifestations and laboratory blood test results were compared between the two groups. The cutoff values was determined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent risk factor that predicted the severe COVID-19. Results The patients with mild and severe COVID-19 showed significant differences in terms of cancer incidence, age, pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and pretreatment C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) (P < 0.05). The severity of COVID-19 was correlated positively with the comorbidity of cancer, age, NLR, and CAR (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, NLR and CAR were independent risk factors for severe COVID-19 (OR = 1.086, P = 0.008; OR = 1.512, P = 0.007; OR = 17.652, P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion An increased CAR can serve as an early warning sign of severe COVID-19 in conjunction with the NLR and age.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-562
Author(s):  
Chaonan Du ◽  
Boxue Liu ◽  
Mingfei Yang ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Qingfang Ma ◽  
...  

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most fatal type of stroke worldwide. Herein, we aim to develop a predictive model based on computed tomography (CT) markers in an ICH cohort and validate it in another cohort. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This retrospective observational cohort study was conducted in 3 medical centers in China. The values of CT markers, including hypodensities, hematoma density, blend sign, black hole sign, island sign, midline shift, baseline hematoma volume, and satellite sign, in predicting poor outcome were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. A nomogram was developed based on the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis in development cohort. Area under curve (AUC) and calibration plot were used to assess the accuracy of nomogram in this development cohort and validate in another cohort. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 1,498 patients were included in this study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that hypodensities, black hole sign, island sign, midline shift, and baseline hematoma volume were independently associated with poor outcome in development cohort. The AUC was 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73–0.76) in the internal validation with development cohort and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.72–0.75) in the external validation with validation cohort. The calibration plot in development and validation cohort indicated that the nomogram was well calibrated. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> CT markers of hypodensities, black hole sign, and island sign might predict poor outcome of ICH patients within 90 days.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Kotera

Abstract Background Postanesthetic shivering is an unpleasant adverse event in surgical patients. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug has been reported to be useful in preventing postanesthetic shivering in several previous studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of flurbiprofen axetil being a prodrug of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for preventing postanesthetic shivering in patients undergoing gynecologic laparotomy surgeries. Method This study is a retrospective observational study. I collected data from patients undergoing gynecologic laparotomy surgeries performed between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020, at Kumamoto City Hospital. All the patients were managed with general anesthesia with or without epidural analgesia. The administration of intravenous 50 mg flurbiprofen axetil for postoperative pain control at the end of the surgery was left to the individual anesthesiologist. The patients were divided into two groups: those who had received intravenous flurbiprofen axetil (flurbiprofen group) and those who had not received intravenous flurbiprofen axetil (non-flurbiprofen group), and I compared the frequency of postanesthetic shivering between the two groups. Additionally, the factors presumably associated with postanesthetic shivering were collected from the medical charts. Intergroup differences were assessed with the χ2 test with Yates’ correlation for continuity category variables. The Student’s t test was used to test for differences in continuous variables. Furthermore, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to elucidate the relationship between the administration of flurbiprofen axetil and the incidence of PAS. Results I retrospectively examined the cases of 141 patients aged 49 ± 13 (range 21-84) years old. The overall postanesthetic shivering rate was 21.3% (30 of the 141 patients). The frequency of postanesthetic shivering in the flurbiprofen group (n = 31) was 6.5%, which was significantly lower than that in the non-flurbiprofen group (n = 110), 25.5% (p value = 0.022). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that administration of flurbiprofen axetil was independently associated with a reduced incidence of postanesthetic shivering (odds ratio 0.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.66, p value = 0.015). Conclusions My result suggests that intraoperative 50 mg flurbiprofen axetil administration for postoperative pain control is useful to prevent postanesthetic shivering in patients undergoing gynecologic laparotomy surgeries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahisa Handa ◽  
Akinobu Nakamura ◽  
Aika Miya ◽  
Hiroshi Nomoto ◽  
Hiraku Kameda ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore predictive factors of time below target glucose range (TBR) ≥ 1% among patients’ characteristics and glycemic variability (GV) indices using continuous glucose monitoring data in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study on 179 (71 female) Japanese outpatients with type 2 diabetes aged ≥ 65 years. The characteristics of the participants with TBR ≥ 1% were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses of GV indices, comprising coefficient of variation (CV), standard deviation, and mean amplitude of glycemic excursions, were performed to identify the optimal index for the identification of patients with TBR ≥ 1%. Results In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, none of the clinical characteristics, including HbA1c and C-peptide index, were independent markers for TBR ≥ 1%, while all three GV indices showed significant associations with TBR ≥ 1%. Among the three GV indices, CV showed the best performance based on the area under the curve in the ROC curve analyses. Conclusions Among elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, CV reflected TBR ≥ 1% most appropriately among the GV indices examined. Trial registration UMIN-CTR: UMIN000029993. Registered 16 November 2017


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Dong ◽  
Minhui Zhu ◽  
Luguang Huang ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Hengxin Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Tissue expansion is used for scar reconstruction owing to its excellent clinical outcomes; however, the complications that emerge from tissue expansion hinder repair. Infection is considered a major complication of tissue expansion. This study aimed to analyze the perioperative risk factors for expander infection. Methods A large, retrospective, single-institution observational study was carried out over a 10-year period. The study enrolled consecutive patients who had undergone tissue expansion for scar reconstruction. Demographics, etiological data, expander-related characteristics and postoperative infection were assessed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to identify risk factors for expander infection. In addition, we conducted a sensitivity analysis for treatment failure caused by infection as an outcome. Results A total of 2374 expanders and 148 cases of expander infection were assessed. Treatment failure caused by infection occurred in 14 expanders. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that disease duration of ≤1 year (odds ratio (OR), 2.07; p &lt; 0.001), larger volume of expander (200–400 ml vs &lt;200 ml; OR, 1.74; p = 0.032; &gt;400 ml vs &lt;200 ml; OR, 1.76; p = 0.049), limb location (OR, 2.22; p = 0.023) and hematoma evacuation (OR, 2.17; p = 0.049) were associated with a high likelihood of expander infection. Disease duration of ≤1 year (OR, 3.88; p = 0.015) and hematoma evacuation (OR, 10.35; p = 0.001) were so related to high risk of treatment failure. Conclusions The rate of expander infection in patients undergoing scar reconstruction was 6.2%. Disease duration of &lt;1 year, expander volume of &gt;200 ml, limb location and postoperative hematoma evacuation were independent risk factors for expander infection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 673-681
Author(s):  
Jin Wang ◽  
Xiaojuan Guo ◽  
Wenhui Lu ◽  
Jie Liu ◽  
Hong Zhang ◽  
...  

Background: Vascular factors and mitochondria dysfunction contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). DL-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) has an effect in protecting mitochondria and improving microcirculation. Objective: The aim was to investigate the effect of donepezil combined NBP therapy in patients with mild-moderate AD. Methods: It was a prospective cohort study. 92 mild-moderate AD patients were classified into the donepezil alone group (n = 43) or the donepezil combined NBP group (n = 49) for 48 weeks. All patients were evaluated with Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), Clinician’s Interview-Based Impression of Change plus caregiver input (CIBIC-plus), Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) every 12 weeks. All patients were monitored for adverse events (AEs). The efficacy was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the changes of ADAS-cog score (OR = 2.778, 95% CI: [1.087, 7. 100], p = 0.033) and ADCS-ADL score (OR = 2.733, 95% CI: [1.002, 7.459], p = 0.049) had significant difference between donepezil alone group and donepezil combined NBP group, while the changes of NPI (OR = 1.145, 95% CI: [0.463, 2.829], p = 0.769), MMSE (OR = 1.563, 95% CI: [0.615, 3.971], p = 0.348) and CIBIC-plus (OR = 2.593, 95% CI: [0.696, 9.685], p = 0.156) had no significant difference. The occurrence of AEs was similar in the two groups. Conclusion: Over the 48-week treatment period, donepezil combined NBP group had slower cognitive decline and better activities of daily living in patients with mild to moderate AD. These indicated that the multi-target therapeutic effect of NBP may be a new choice for AD treatment.


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