Derivation of a new bioscore for predicting mortality in sepsis

Introduction: Currently, there is a lack of clinically feasible and reliable method for discriminating outcome in sepsis. We aimed to derive a new bioscore for predicting mortality in critically ill patients with sepsis using a combination of biomarkers and clinical indexes. Materials and Methods: This was a secondary analysis from a prospective study involving 159 patients with sepsis admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Data for key variables considered for possible inclusion in the score were collected, which included: age, sex, source of admission, comorbidities, microorganism, bacteraemia, site of infection, septic shock status, baseline Simplified Acute Physiological Score II, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (total and organ sub-scores), C-reactive protein, procalcitonin and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Approximate quintiles of each variable were given points as per the strength of their association with 30-day mortality. Results: In accordance with the statistical significance in the logistic regression analysis, the final score utilised candidate variables of age, central nervous system and liver SOFA sub-scores and IL-6. The bioscore predicted 30-day mortality with a very good performance [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.814 (95% confidence interval 0.745-0.871, p <0.0001)] in our sepsis cohort. A bioscore greater than 4 predicted 30-day mortality with 80.4% sensitivity, 69.9% specificity, 2.67 positive likelihood ratio and 0.28 negative likelihood ratio. As the score increased, so did mortality rate. Conclusion: A new bioscore combining age, central nervous system and liver SOFA sub-scores and IL-6 measured on ICU admission potentially improves prediction of mortality in sepsis. Further study is warranted to prospectively validate the clinical utility of this bioscore in risk-stratifying patients with suspected sepsis

Sepsis mortality score for the prediction of mortality in septic patients

Purpose: To derive a prediction equation for 30-day mortality in sepsis using a multi-marker approach and compare its performance to the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. Methods: This study included 159 septic patients admitted to an intensive care unit. Leukocytes count, procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and paraoxonase (PON) and arylesterase (ARE) activities of PON-1 were assayed from blood obtained on ICU presentation. Logistic regression was used to derive sepsis mortality score (SMS), a prediction equation describing the relationship between biomarkers and 30-day mortality. Results: The 30-day mortality rate was 28.9%. The SMS was [еlogit(p)/(1 + еlogit(p))] × 100; logit(p) =0.74+ (0.004 × PCT)+(0.001 × IL-6)−(0.025 × ARE)−(0.059 × leukocytes count). The SMC had higher area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (95% Cl) than SOFA score [0.814 (0.736–0.892) vs. 0.767 (0.677–0.857)], but is not statistically significant.When the SMSwas added to the SOFA score, prediction of 30-day mortality improved compared to SOFA score used alone [0.845 (0.777–0.899), p=0.022]. Conclusions: A sepsismortality score using baseline leukocytes count, PCT, IL-6 and ARE was derived, which predicted 30-day mortality with very good performance and added significant prognostic information to SOFA score

Validation of the 28-day mortality prognostic performance of the modified nutrition risk in critically ill score in a Malaysian intensive care unit

Introduction: The mNUTRIC score is a nutritional assessment tool to identify critically ill patients with high nutritional risk who could benefit from nutritional interventions. This study was conducted to validate the 28-day mortality prognostic performance of the mNUTRIC score in a Malaysian intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult patients who were consecutively admitted to the ICU from January 2017 to December 2018 for >24 hours. Data were collected on variables required to calculate the mNUTRIC score. Patients with mNUTRIC score ≥5 points were considered to be at high nutritional risk. Main outcome was 28- day mortality from all causes; ICU length of stay (LOS) and prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) (>2 days) were secondary outcomes. Results: From a total of 432 admissions, 382 (88.4%) patients fulfilled the study criteria. Seventy-seven (20.2%) of these patients were at high nutritional risk. They had longer mean ICU LOS (7.1±7.5 days versus 4.2±4.0 days, p=0.001), greater proportion of prolonged MV (57.1% versus 14.4%, p<0.001) and higher 28-day mortality (44.2% versus 10.2%, p<0.001) compared to patients with low mNUTRIC score (≤4 points). High mNUTRIC score predicted 28-day mortality with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.797 (95% confidence interval: 0.738-0.856). Conclusion: High mNUTRIC score was associated with a higher 28-day mortality. The prognostic performance for 28-day mortality of the mNUTRIC score is clinically valid as indicated by AUC >0.7 and is comparable to the results of other validation studies. In addition, patients with high mNUTRIC score had increased ICU LOS and prolonged MV. Key words: Nutritional status, critically ill, mortalit

Point-of-care procalcitonin guidance to reduce antibiotic use in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: Antibiotic therapy is of great importance in sepsis but prolonged duration can add to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. We aimed to examine whether point-of-care (POC) procalcitonin (PCT) guidance can safely reduce the duration of antibiotic use in infected critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: Eighty adult patients admitted to or acquired sepsis in the intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled in this randomized controlled trial. Patients were allocated to either POC PCT-guided intervention arm (n=40) or the control arm, in which antibiotic therapy followed local guidelines (n=40). In the PCT-guided arm, antibiotic treatment was discontinued if clinical signs of infection improved and the PCT concentration decreased by >80% of its peak value, or when it reaches a value of <0·5 g/L. Results: The mean duration of antibiotic use for PCT arm was 6.4 (SD 2.3) days compared to 9 (SD 4.3) days in the control arm (p=0.004). In the first 30 days after being assigned to a group, the proportion of patients who received a repeated course of systemic antibiotics was 33% in the PCT arm vs 38.1% in the control arm (p=0.757). Mean length of stay in the ICU was 8.4 (SD 5.3) days in the PCT arm vs 10.4 (SD 12.3) days in the control arm (p=0.404). Mortality at 30 days was 22.5% in the PCT-arm vs 25% in the control arm (p<0.0001). Conclusion: POC PCT guidance stimulates reduction of duration of antibiotic use in ICU, accompanied by a significant decrease in mortalit

Awake Nasal Fiberoptic Intubation in Diffuse Para-pharyngeal Abscess

This is a case report on awake fibreoptic intubation for a patient with a deep neck space infection. Intubation in this group of patients is considered difficult. It is challenging to anaesthesiologists, emergency physicians and otorhinolaryngologists because there is no consensus for airway management in these patients. We present a 30-year-old gentleman with swelling over the right cheek, difficulty breathing and severe trismus. He had a history of toothache one month prior to admission. Upon clinical examination, there was a diffuse swelling over the right mandible. Other examinations were unremarkable. Provisional diagnosis of a right para-pharyngeal abscess was made secondary to a possible infected right lower 3rd molar, with a differential diagnosis of a right parotid abscess with para-pharyngeal extension. Radiological assessment using computed tomography (CT) of the head and neck region showed an abscess over the right para-pharyngeal area, soft palate and right submandibular region. The narrowest part of the airway was at the region posterior to the soft palate, measuring approximately 1 cm. All staff and equipment were prepared for intubating a difficult airway. The patient was transferred to the control environment (operation theatre) for intubation. Awake nasal fibreoptic intubation (AFOI) was successfully performed for this patient using intravenous dexmedetomidine alone as the sedative

The combined use of interleukin-6 with serum albumin for mortality prediction in critically ill elderly patients: the interleukin-6-to-albumin ratio

Background: The association between interleukin-6 (IL-6) and serum albumin (ALB) with mortality in critically ill elderly patients, either as stand-alone biomarkers or in combination, has been scarcely reported. We, therefore, aimed to investigate the prognostic value of the IL-6-to-albumin ratio in this special population. Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the mixed intensive care unit (ICU) of two university-affiliated hospitals in Malaysia. Consecutive elderly patients (aged above or equal to 60 years) admitted to the ICU, who underwent simultaneous measurement of plasma IL-6 and serum ALB, were recruited. The prognostic value of the IL-6-to-albumin ratio was assessed by analysis of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: A total of 112 critically ill elderly patients were recruited. The outcome of all-cause ICU mortality was 22.3%. The calculated IL-6-to-albumin ratio was significantly higher in the non-survivors compared to the survivors {14.1 [interquartile range (IQR), 6.5–26.7] vs 2.5 [(IQR, 0.6–9.2) pg/mL, p <0.001]}. The area under the curve (AUC) of IL-6-to-albumin ratio for discrimination of ICU mortality was 0.766 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.667–0.865, p <0.001] which was slightly higher than that of IL-6 and albumin alone. The ideal cut-off value of the IL-6-to-albumin ratio was above 5.7 with a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 64.4%. After adjusting for severity of illness, the IL-6-to-albumin ratio remained as an independent predictor of ICU mortality with an adjusted odd ratio of 0.975 (95% CI, 0.952–0.999, p = 0.039). Conclusion: The IL-6-to-albumin ratio offers a slight improvement in mortality prediction than either of its constituent individual biomarkers and as such, it may be a potential tool to aid in the prognostication of critically ill elderly patients although this requires further validation in a larger prospective study

Point-of-care procalcitonin to guide the discontinuation of antibiotic treatment in the intensive care unit: a Malaysian randomised controlled trial

Introduction: This work aims to establish the practicality of simple point-of-care (POC) measurements of procalcitonin (PCT) coupled with the standard PCT-guided antibiotic treatment discontinuation algorithm to guide the cessation of antibiotic treatment in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: In this randomised-controlled trial, 80 adult patients with suspected bacterial infections were randomised to either the POC PCT-guided arm (n = 40) or the standard-of-care arm (n = 40). The decision to discontinue antibiotic treatment in the POC PCT-guided arm was based on the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment discontinuation strategy, which states that discontinuation is urged once the PCT concentration has reduced by ≥ 80% or to < 0.5 ng/mL. In the standard-of-care arm, the antibiotic-treatment duration followed the local guidelines. Results: The median duration of antibiotic treatment was 6.5 [IQR = 5.0-7.0] days in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 7.5 [IQR = 5.0-14.0] days in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.010). The mean antibiotic-free days in the first 30 days after study inclusion was 20.7 (SD = 5.3) days in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 16.4 (SD = 7.4) days in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.004). The number of patients who took an antibiotic for more than 10 days was 2 (5%) in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 13 (32.5%) in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Antibiotic use in patients with symptoms of bacterial infections in the ICU was substantially minimised with the installation of a POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment cessation

Model-based insulin sensitivity as a new biomarker of sepsis diagnosis in the intensive care unit

Introduction: Currently, there is a lack of real-time biomarker to diagnose sepsis. Insulin sensitivity (SI) may be determined in real-time using mathematical glucose-insulin models, but its effectiveness as a diagnostic test of sepsis remains unexplored. We aimed to explore the diagnostic value of model-based SI as a new biomarker of sepsis in a mixed cohort of diabetic and non-diabetic patients newly admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, we analysed SI levels derived from the Intensive[1]Control-of-Insulin-Nutrition-Glucose model in septic (n=45) and non-septic (n = 41) patients upon their ICU admission. The diagnostic value of model-based SI for sepsis was determined through analysis of the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: Baseline SI levels were significantly lower in patients with sepsis than those without sepsis (0.560 (SD=0.676) vs. 1.097 (SD=1.473) x 10-4 L/mU/min, P = 0.037). However, the AUC of 0.588 revealed that model-based SI was a poor diagnostic test of sepsis in the mixed cohort of diabetics and non-diabetics. In a separate analysis among the non-diabetics (n=19), model-based SI predicted sepsis with clinically valid performance (AUC 0.911). Conclusion: Presence of sepsis significantly reduced SI in the critically ill patients but a low SI could predict sepsis only in the non-diabetic cohort

Levels and diagnostic value of model-based insulin sensitivity in sepsis: a preliminary study

Background and Aims: Currently, there is a lack of real time metric with high sensitivity and specificity to diagnose sepsis. Insulin sensitivity (SI) may be determined in real time using mathematical glucose insulin models; however, its effectiveness as a diagnostic test of sepsis is unknown. Our aims were to determine the levels and diagnostic value of model based SI for identification of sepsis in critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective, cohort study, we analysed SI levels in septic (n = 18) and nonseptic (n = 20) patients at 1 (baseline), 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 h of their Intensive Care Unit admission. Patients with diabetes mellitus Type I or Type II were excluded from the study. The SI levels were derived by fitting the blood glucose levels, insulin infusion and glucose input rates into the Intensive Control of insulin Nutrition Glucose model. Results: The median SI levels were significantly lower in the sepsis than in the nonsepsis at all follow up time points. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the model based SI at baseline for discriminating sepsis from nonsepsis was 0.814 (95% confidence interval, 0.675–0.953). The optimal cut-off point of the SI test was 1.573 × 10-4 L/mu/min. At this cut-off point, the sensitivity was 77.8%, specificity was 75%, positive predictive value was 73.7%, and negative predictive value was 78.9%. Conclusions: Model based SI ruled in and ruled out sepsis with fairly high sensitivity and specificity in our critically ill nondiabetic patients. These findings can be used as a foundation for further, prospective investigation in this area

The Impact of educational intervention on attitude toward organ donation among health care workers in Malaysia

Background. The attitudes of the health care workers (HCWs) are essential in influencing organ donation rate. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of an educational intervention on attitudes toward organ donation among HCWs. Methods. A questionnaire-based interventional study was conducted with 458 HCW from 5 hospitals in Malaysia. A 26-item self-administered questionnaire was distributed online as a pre- intervention test. Respondents then went through website-based educational materials followed by a post-intervention questionnaire. Results. A total of 345 (75.3%) respondents completed the tests. Their attitude toward organ dona- tion was positive preintervention. After the intervention, respondents expressed an increase willingness to donate their own organs (P = .008) and their relatives’ organs (P < .001) after death; were more willing to adopt organ donation as part of end-of-life care (P =.002); were more comfortable talking to relatives about organ donation (P =.001); and expressed an increase consideration to execute the action at any time (P =.001). There was increased willingness to admit to the intensive care unit for facilitating organ donation (P =.007); to employ the same resources to maintain a potential brain-dead donor (P < .001); and to support organ donation in case they or their relatives were diagnosed with end-stage organ failure (P =.008). However, there was an increase in negative attitudes regarding the association between organ donation with health care failure (P =.004) and with pain (P =.003). Posi- tive attitude scores were higher after the intervention (P < .001). Conclusion. An educational website-based intervention was able to improve the attitudes of HCWs toward organ donation