title: Is TNF-alpha a prognostic factor in patients with sepsis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE: To determine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels in a prospective study in 58 hospitalized patients in a department of internal medicine (63 episodes, 29 in immunocompromised patients) during a 7-month period. METHODS: Patients fulfilling the following criteria were included: clinical evidence of acute infection, temperature >38.2 degrees C, tachycardia >90 beats/min, tachypnea >20 breaths/min. Samples were taken from day 1 up to day 13 after an infection was diagnosed, and TNF-alpha was determined by enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: In 29 episodes (46.0%) the infection was microbiologically documented. The median of the TNF-alpha levels in the Gram-negative episodes was significantly higher than that in the Gram-positive episodes (p=0.002). Thirteen of 63 episodes (20.6%) had a fatal outcome. With respect to all measured values, the non-survivors had a significantly higher median of TNF-alpha levels than the survivors (p=0.0001). There was, however, great interpatient and intrapatient variability in TNF-alpha levels; thus, no unequivocal correlation between TNF-alpha and outcome could be documented. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the influence of the infecting organism on TNF-alpha kinetics is less pronounced than that of the underlying disease.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik III/Infektiologie, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Reiner
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schaumann
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlick
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schaper
authors.forename: Pramod M.
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shah