Usefulness of serum fibrinogen degradation product-E in sporadic cases of classical hemolytic uremic syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) associated with Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection is one of the diseases causing acute renal failure in young children. Although HUS is still a serious disease in children, no reliable predictive markers for HUS nor markers of disease severity are available so far. Recently, we experienced a sporadic case of typical HUS caused by Stx-producing E. coli O157:H7 and detected, at the prodromal stage, a high level of serum fibrin/fibrinogen degradation product-E (FDP-E) fraction.


METHODS
To assess the usefulness of FDP-E for the treatment of HUS in clinical practice, we retrospectively examined serum levels of FDP-E in 22 patients with bloody diarrhea with or without HUS.


RESULTS
There were significantly increased levels of serum FDP-E in patients with HUS, but not in those without HUS. Furthermore, serum levels of FDP-E may correlate with disease severity in patients with HUS.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that serum levels of FDP-E may be a useful marker of HUS in clinical practice.
Aihara
Y
Y
Department of Pediatrics, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan. yaihara1@urahp.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
Nakamura
T
T
Unayama
T
T
Yoshida
Y
Y
Yokota
S
S
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006463:Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D015415:Biomarkers; D005340:Fibrinogen