Clinical biochemistry
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Clinical biochemistry · Oct 2014
Serum adhesion molecules as outcome predictors in adult severe sepsis patients requiring mechanical ventilation in the emergency department.
Serum adhesion molecules play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of sepsis syndrome. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of serum adhesion molecules in patients with severe sepsis and mechanical ventilation (MV) at the emergency department. ⋯ In this study, VCAM-1 level is a more powerful outcome predictor of hospital mortality in severe sepsis patients requiring MV than lactate concentration and other conventional parameters on admission. This suggests that increased plasma VCAM-1 concentration may be useful in identifying who are at risk of hospital mortality among severely septic patients requiring MV.
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Clinical biochemistry · Oct 2014
Is plasma and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) determination in donors and recipients predictive of renal function after kidney transplantation?
Delayed graft function (DGF) is still a major issue in kidney transplantation. Plasma and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) were evaluated in a population of kidney donors and recipients to investigate their performance to predict early renal function. ⋯ Plasma NGAL level determination in recipients, but not in donors, proved to be a reliable predictor of DGF occurrence and renal function restoration, but too long for an interval to be able to compete with biomarkers currently used in clinical practice.