The Journal of infection
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The Journal of infection · Dec 2013
Value of sTREM-1, procalcitonin and CRP as laboratory parameters for postmortem diagnosis of sepsis.
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) was reported to be up-regulated in various inflammatory diseases as well as in bacterial sepsis. Increased cell-surface TREM-1 expression was also shown to result in marked plasma elevation of the soluble form of this molecule (sTREM-1) in patients with bacterial infections. In this study, we investigated sTREM-1, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in postmortem serum in a series of sepsis-related fatalities and control individuals who underwent medico-legal investigations. sTREM-1 was also measured in pericardial fluid and urine. ⋯ Postmortem serum sTREM-1, individually considered, did not provide better sensitivity and specificity than procalcitonin in detecting sepsis. However, simultaneous assessment of procalcitonin and sTREM-1 in postmortem serum can be of help in clarifying contradictory postmortem findings. sTREM-1 determination in pericardial fluid can be an alternative to postmortem serum in those situations in which biochemical analyses are required and blood collected during autopsy proves insufficient.
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The Journal of infection · Dec 2013
Epidemiological, clinical and viral characteristics of fatal cases of human avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in Zhejiang Province, China.
The high mortality of avian influenza H7N9 in humans is a cause of great concern in China. ⋯ Age along with a history of smoking, chronic lung disease, immuno-suppressive disorders, chronic drug use and delayed Oseltamivir treatment are risk factors which might contribute to fatal outcome in human H7N9 infection.