Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Feb 2023
ReviewHow to use biomarkers of infection or sepsis at the bedside: guide to clinicians.
Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. In this context, biomarkers could be considered as indicators of either infection or dysregulated host response or response to treatment and/or aid clinicians to prognosticate patient risk. More than 250 biomarkers have been identified and evaluated over the last few decades, but no biomarker accurately differentiates between sepsis and sepsis-like syndrome. ⋯ Biomarker kinetics are more useful than single values in predicting sepsis, when making the diagnosis and assessing the response to antibiotic therapy. Finally, integrated biomarker-guided algorithms may hold promise to improve both the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis. Herein, we provide current data on the clinical utility of pathogen-specific and host-response biomarkers, offer guidance on how to optimize their use, and propose the needs for future research.
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Intensive care medicine · Feb 2023
Epidemiology and outcomes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients: the EUROBACT-2 international cohort study.
In the critically ill, hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HA-BSI) are associated with significant mortality. Granular data are required for optimizing management, and developing guidelines and clinical trials. ⋯ HA-BSI was frequently caused by Gram-negative, carbapenem-resistant and DTR pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance led to delays in adequate antimicrobial therapy. Mortality was high, and at day-28 only a minority of the patients were discharged alive from the hospital. Prevention of antimicrobial resistance and focusing on adequate antimicrobial therapy and source control are important to optimize patient management and outcomes.
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Intensive care medicine · Feb 2023
CommentRenal outcomes following intravenous contrast administration in patients with acute kidney injury: a multi-site retrospective propensity-adjusted analysis.
Evidence of an association between intravenous contrast media (CM) and persistent renal dysfunction is lacking for patients with pre-existing acute kidney injury (AKI). This study was designed to determine the association between intravenous CM administration and persistent AKI in patients with pre-existing AKI. ⋯ Among patients with pre-existing AKI, contrast administration was not associated with either persistent AKI at hospital discharge or initiation of dialysis within 180 days. Current consensus recommendations for use of intravenous CM in patients with stable renal disease may also be applied to patients with pre-existing AKI.