title: Rapid diagnosis of sepsis.
abstract: Fast and appropriate therapy is the cornerstone in the therapy of sepsis. However, the discrimination of sepsis from non-infectious causes of inflammation may be difficult. Biomarkers have been suggested to aid physicians in this decision. There is currently no biochemical technique available which alone allows a rapid and reliable discrimination between sepsis and non-infectious inflammation. Procalcitonin (PCT) is currently the most investigated biomarker for this purpose. C-reactive protein and interleukin 6 perform inferior to PCT in most studies and their value in diagnosing sepsis is not defined. All biomarkers including PCT are also released after various non-infectious inflammatory impacts. This shortcoming needs to be taken into account when biomarkers are used to aid the physician in the diagnosis of sepsis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based pathogen detection may improve time to adequate therapy but cannot rule out the presence of infection when negative.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine; Jena University Hospital; Jena, Germany.
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Bloos
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine; Jena University Hospital; Jena, Germany.
authors: Konrad
authors: K
authors: Reinhart
mesh_terms: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000097:blood; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000073871:Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1; D000099231:Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein
chemical_list: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator; D000073871:Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1; D000099231:Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human; C524898:PLAUR protein, human; C408842:TREM1 protein, human
keywords: PCR; biomarker; cytokines; diagnosis; procalcitonin; sepsis