• Brad S Karon, Nicole V Tolan, Amy M Wockenfus, Darci R Block, Nikola A Baumann, Sandra C Bryant, and Casey M Clements.
• Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States. Electronic address: Karon.bradley@mayo.edu.
• Clin. Biochem. 2017 Nov 1; 50 (16-17): 956-958.

BackgroundLactate, white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil count, procalcitonin and immature granulocyte (IG) count were compared for the prediction of sepsis, and severe sepsis or septic shock, in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED).MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 501 ED patients with a sepsis panel ordered for suspicion of sepsis. WBC, neutrophil, and IG counts were measured on a Sysmex XT-2000i analyzer. Lactate was measured by i-STAT, and procalcitonin by Brahms Kryptor. We classified patients as having sepsis using a simplification of the 1992 consensus conference sepsis definitions. Patients with sepsis were further classified as having severe sepsis or septic shock using established criteria. Univariate receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine odds ratio (OR), area under the ROC curve (AUC), and sensitivity/specificity at optimal cut-off for prediction of sepsis (vs. no sepsis), and prediction of severe sepsis or septic shock (vs. no sepsis).ResultsThere were 267 patients without sepsis; and 234 with sepsis, including 35 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. Lactate had the highest OR (1.44, 95th% CI 1.20-1.73) for the prediction of sepsis; while WBC, neutrophil count and percent (neutrophil/WBC) had OR>1.00 (p<0.05). All biomarkers had AUC<0.70 and sensitivity and specificity <70% at the optimal cut-off. Initial lactate was the best biomarker for predicting severe sepsis or septic shock, with an odds ratio (95th% CI) of 2.70 (2.02-3.61) and AUC 0.89 (0.82-0.96).ConclusionTraditional biomarkers (lactate, WBC, neutrophil count, procalcitonin, IG) have limited utility in the prediction of sepsis.Copyright © 2017 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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