Grażyna Durek

Midkine, a multifunctional cytokine, in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock: a pilot study.

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether severe sepsis and septic shock are related to alterations in midkine concentrations, to identify disease-related factors associated with these alterations, and to initially appraise whether midkine might serve as a biomarker in sepsis. Prospective observational cross-sectional study with 5-day follow-up. Circulating midkine was measured (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) in 38 septic (13 with severe sepsis, 25 with septic shock), 82 active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (26 with systemic inflammatory response syndrome [SIRS]) patients, and 87 healthy subjects. Midkine significantly increased along with a sequence: health-inflammation (IBD)-systemic inflammation (IBD-SIRS)-severe sepsis/septic shock. High midkine levels (>1,000 ng/L) were found in 63% of septic and in 19% of IBD-SIRS patients, whereas extremely high concentrations (>5,000 ng/L) were found in 16% vs. 4%. Although not different at admission, midkine gradually decreased in severe sepsis and remained high in shock. Similarly, persistently high midkine was observed in patients with cardiovascular insufficiency (CVI) and in mechanically ventilated as compared with normalizing levels in patients without CVI and not requiring ventilation. The differences in devised simple rates (&Dgr;5th-1st) were significant in all these cases. Accordingly, admission midkine was higher in patients with metabolic acidosis. Concerning pathogen, gram-positive infections were associated with the highest midkine levels. In conclusion, sepsis and septic shock are associated with midkine elevation, substantially more pronounced than in inflammation, even systemic, revealing a new potential mediator of deregulation of neutrophil migration. Sepsis-related global hypoxia seems to contribute to midkine elevation. Our results substantiate further research on possible midkine application as a sepsis biomarker: in differentiating SIRS from sepsis and identifying gram-positive sepsis and septic patients at risk of CVI and shock.

Procalcitonin kinetics – prognostic and diagnostic significance in septic patients

Introduction Severe sepsis and septic shock are advanced clinical conditions representing the patients response to infection and having a variable but high mortality rate. Early evaluation of sepsis stage and choice of adequate treatment are key factors for survival. Some study results suggest the necessity of daily procalcitonin (PCT) monitoring because of its prognostic and discriminative value. Material and methods An observational and prospective study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic and discriminative value of PCT kinetics in comparison to PCT absolute value measurements. In a group of 50 intensive care unit patients with diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock, serum PCT measurements were performed on admission, and on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th day of therapy. The level of PCT was determined with a commercially available test according to the manufacturers protocol. Results The kinetics of PCT assessed by ΔPCT was statistically significant in the survivors vs. the non-survivors subgroup (ΔPCT3/1, p = 0.022; ΔPCT5/1, p = 0.021). ΔPCT has no statistical significance in the severe sepsis and septic shock subgroups for all analyzed days. Only the 5th day PCT level was significantly higher in the non-survivors vs. survivors group (p = 0.008). The 1st day PCT level in the severe sepsis vs. septic shock group has a discriminative impact (p = 0.009). Conclusions According to the results, single serum PCT measurement, regardless of absolute value, has a discriminative impact but no prognostic significance, during the first 2 days of therapy. The PCT kinetics is of prognostic value from the 3rd day and is of earlier prognostic significance in comparison to changes in the patients clinical condition evaluated by SOFA score kinetics.

Results of the severe sepsis registry in intensive care units in Poland from 2003−2009

BACKGROUND Severe sepsis remains the most common cause of death in intensive care units (ICUs) according to many epidemiological studies. There are no data in Poland on the extent of severe sepsis cases treated in ICUs. The aim of the study was to analyse the course and outcome of severe sepsis patients treated in Polish ICUs. METHODS In 2003, the internet-based severe sepsis registry was created as a multicentre observational research project. An online questionnaire was made accessible to ICUs participating in the study. Questionnaires were completed after the discharge of patients and included demographic data, clinical and microbiological information about the cause, course, treatment and outcome of septic patients. All data were given voluntarily and anonymously. RESULTS During the 7-year period (2003-2009), 4999 cases of severe sepsis were registered for analysis. The mean age of septic patients was 57 years, and the majority of the patients were men (58%). The mean length of stay in the ICU was 10 days. A significant decrease in the mortality rate was observed from 54% in 2003 and 56% in 2004 to 46% in 2009 (P < 0.05). Most of the patients were admitted to the ICU for surgical reasons (56%), and intra-abdominal infections predominated (49%). Severe sepsis patients were admitted to ICUs in critical condition, and the majority of them (89%) had 3 or more organs dysfunction. The APACHE II score on admission was 26 points. Community acquired infections were the most frequent cause of severe sepsis (53%). Most of the pathogens responsible for infection were Gram-negative bacteria (58%). Gram-positive bacteria were identified in 34% of patients and fungi in 16%. A positive blood culture was detected in 41% of patients. Vasopressors were administered to most of the patients (86%). There was a marked increase in the frequency of administering noradrenaline and a decrease in administering dopamine. Renal replacement therapy was applied in 22% of the patients, and there was a marked increase in this type of therapy in the last two years of the study period. CONCLUSIONS Patients with severe sepsis involved in the 7-year registry were critically ill in half of the cases because of intra-abdominal infections, and the majority of them had multi-organ dysfunction. The mortality of registered patients was high, but it significantly decreased during the observation time. Based on the results obtained from this voluntary registry, the authors conclude that mandated sepsis registries should be established in Polish hospitals to improve the strategy of diagnosing and managing this syndrome.

Guidelines regarding the ineffective maintenance of organ functions (futile therapy) in ICU patients incapable of giving informed statements of will

1National Consultant in intensive therapy, Chair and 1st Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Wrocław Medical University, Poland 2Department of Medical Law, Chair of Forensic Medicine, Wrocław Medical University, Poland 3Chair and 2nd Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Wrocław Medical University, Poland 4National Consultant in anaesthesiology and intensive therapy, Chair and Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Toruń, Poland 5Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Regional Specialist Hospital in Łódz, Poland 6Department of Respiratory Physiopathology and Home Ventilation, Chair of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland

Recommendations for the management of trauma or surgery-related massive blood loss.

UNLABELLED Exsanguination is an underestimated cause of treatment failures in patients with severe trauma or undergoing surgery. In some patients the primary dysfunction of blood clot formation is a direct cause of a massive blood loss. Patients without previous coagulation disorders are at risk of coagulopathy following intraoperative or post-traumatic bleeding, where the local haemostasis does not warrant bleeding cessation. THE AIM OF THE STUDY was to assess the therapeutic value of various components of a complex interdisciplinary approach, based on the opinion of the experts treating patients with massive bleeding. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted by anonymous questionnaire, using the analogue representation of the argument strength. The results were analyzed based on the techniques of descriptive statistics. The argument was considered a key parameter, when the median value of strength was located in the highest quartile. RESULTS It was found that the arguments of the highest strength for the risk of developing the posthaemorrhagic coagulation disorders are: loss of more than one third of blood volume, fluid therapy in an amount greater than 35 ml/kg, administration of more than 5 units of packed red blood cells, insufficient supply of fresh frozen plasma and platelets in proportion to packed red blood cells, severe acidosis and hypothermia. The most important tests for post-haemorrhage coagulopathy are: anatomically non-localized bleed, abnormal values of the standard coagulation parameters and fibrinogen level below 1 g/L. In the treatment of post-haemorrhagic coagulopathy the team of experts pointed out the benefits of antifibrinolytic drugs, concentrates of prothrombin complex and recombinant activated coagulation factor VII. CONCLUSIONS Multidisciplinary therapeutic management of bleeding patients is associated with employment of appropriate treatment methods to achieve the best possible outcome. Factors influencing the development of coagulopathy, the methods of diagnosis and proposed techniques of treatment may facilitate therapeutic decisions in bleeding patients requiring massive transfusion of blood components.

A successful cesarean section in a pregnant woman with A (H1N1) influenza requiring ECMO support

A 24-year-old pregnant woman (29.4 weeks of gestation) with A (H1N1) influenza-associated adult respiratory distress syndrome was admitted to the intensive care unit. The patient was connected to femoral-jugular veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) 8 hours after admission. On the 7th day of ECMO support, due to the increasing threat to the life of the mother and the fetus, a decision was made to carry out a cesarean section (CS) without discontinuing the ECMO support. The CS was performed uneventfully under general anesthesia, 5 hours after the discontinuation of heparin infusion. A live, premature 1200 g female neonate was delivered. No complications occurred in the perioperative period. On the 17th day, the patient was successfully weaned off the ECMO and discharged 10 days later. The newborn was discharged from the hospital in good health 41 days after the delivery.