title: Endotoxaemia in septic shock: clinical and post mortem correlations.
abstract: The Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay was used as one of a series of laboratory and clinical investigations on a group of 31 patients suffering from septic shock in order to assess the clinical significance of this assay for the detection of circulating endotoxin in clinical gram-negative sepsis. Four patients with cardiogenic shock served as controls. Endotoxin was detected in the bloodstream of all patients with septic shock during the 24 h following referral and was not detected in the control patients. Eventual clinical recovery was associated with the disappearance of endotoxin from the peripheral blood. Blood cultures were unhelpful as a prognostic indicator in these critically ill patients. A quantitative assay of endotoxin in blood may allow a more precise relationship with the clinical manifestations of major sepsis.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D008033:Limulus Test; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins