Tag Archives: Sepsis

The Epidemiology of Hospital Death Following Pediatric Severe Sepsis: When, Why, and How Children With Sepsis Die. (Dodd)

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Weiss SL, et al. The Epidemiology of Hospital Death Following Pediatric Severe Sepsis: When, Why, and How Children With Sepsis Die. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2017 Sep;18(9):823-830.

OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology of in-hospital death after pediatric sepsis has not been well characterized. We investigated the timing, cause, mode, and attribution of death in children with severe sepsis, hypothesizing that refractory shock leading to early death is rare in the current era.

DESIGN: Retrospective observational study.

SETTING: Emergency departments and ICUs at two academic children’s hospitals.

PATIENTS: Seventy-nine patients less than 18 years old treated for severe sepsis/septic shock in 2012-2013 who died prior to hospital discharge.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Time to death from sepsis recognition, cause and mode of death, and attribution of death to sepsis were determined from medical records. Organ dysfunction was assessed via daily Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2 scores for 7 days preceding death with an increase greater than or equal to 5 defined as worsening organ dysfunction. The median time to death was 8 days (interquartile range, 1-12 d) with 25%, 35%, and 49% of cumulative deaths within 1, 3, and 7 days of sepsis recognition, respectively. The most common cause of death was refractory shock (34%), then multiple organ dysfunction syndrome after shock recovery (27%), neurologic injury (19%), single-organ respiratory failure (9%), and nonseptic comorbidity (6%). Early deaths (≤ 3 d) were mostly due to refractory shock in young, previously healthy patients while multiple organ dysfunction syndrome predominated after 3 days. Mode of death was withdrawal in 72%, unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 22%, and irreversible loss of neurologic function in 6%. Ninety percent of deaths were attributable to acute or chronic manifestations of sepsis. Only 23% had a rise in Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2 that indicated worsening organ dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS: Refractory shock remains a common cause of death in pediatric sepsis, especially for early deaths. Later deaths were mostly attributable to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, neurologic, and respiratory failure after life-sustaining therapies were limited. A pattern of persistent, rather than worsening, organ dysfunction preceded most deaths.

A Systemic Inflammation Mortality Risk Assessment Contingency Table for Severe Sepsis. (Colman)

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Carcillo JA, Sward K, Halstead ES, et al. A Systemic Inflammation Mortality Risk Assessment Contingency Table for Severe Sepsis. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2016 Dec 9. [Epub ahead of print]

OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that a C-reactive protein and ferritin-based systemic inflammation contingency table can track mortality risk in pediatric severe sepsis.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

SETTING: Tertiary PICU.

PATIENTS: Children with 100 separate admission episodes of severe sepsis were enrolled.

INTERVENTIONS: Blood samples were attained on day 2 of sepsis and bi-weekly for biomarker batch analysis. A 2 × 2 contingency table using C-reactive protein and ferritin thresholds was developed.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A C-reactive protein of 4.08 mg/dL and a ferritin of 1,980 ng/mL were found to be optimal cutoffs for outcome prediction at first sampling (n = 100) using the Youden index. PICU mortality was increased in the “high-risk” C-reactive protein greater than or equal to 4.08 mg/dL and ferritin greater than or equal to 1,980 ng/mL category (6/13 [46.15%]) compared with the “intermediate-risk” C-reactive protein greater than or equal to 4.08 mg/dL and ferritin less than 1,980 ng/mL or C-reactive protein less than 4.08 mg/dL and ferritin greater than or equal to 1,980 ng/mL categories (2/43 [4.65%]), and the “low-risk” C-reactive protein less than 4.08 mg/dL and ferritin less than 1,980 ng/mL category (0/44 [0%]) (odds ratio, 36.43 [95% CI, 6.16-215.21]). The high-risk category was also associated with the development of immunoparalysis (odds ratio, 4.47 [95% CI, 1.34-14.96]) and macrophage activation syndrome (odds ratio, 24.20 [95% CI, 5.50-106.54]). Sixty-three children underwent sequential blood sampling; those who were initially in the low-risk category (n = 24) and those who subsequently migrated (n = 19) to the low-risk category all survived, whereas those who remained in the “at-risk” categories had increased mortality (7/20 [35%]; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: A C-reactive protein- and ferritin-based contingency table effectively assessed mortality risk. Reduction in systemic inflammation below a combined threshold C-reactive protein of 4.08 mg/dL and ferritin of 1,980 ng/mL appeared to be a desired response in children with severe sepsis.

Impact of Source Control in Patients With Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock. (Betters)

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Martínez ML, et al. Impact of Source Control in Patients With Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock. Crit Care Med. 2017 Jan;45(1):11-19.

OBJECTIVES: Time to clearance of pathogens is probably critical to outcome in septic shock. Current guidelines recommend intervention for source control within 12 hours after diagnosis. We aimed to determine the epidemiology of source control in the management of sepsis and to analyze the impact of timing to source control on mortality.

DESIGN: Prospective observational analysis of the Antibiotic Intervention in Severe Sepsis study, a Spanish national multicenter educational intervention to improve antibiotherapy in sepsis.

SETTING: Ninety-nine medical-surgical ICUs in Spain.

PATIENTS: We enrolled 3,663 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock during three 4-month periods between 2011 and 2013.

INTERVENTIONS: Source control and hospital mortality.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 1,173 patients (32%) underwent source control, predominantly for abdominal, urinary, and soft-tissue infections. Compared with patients who did not require source control, patients who underwent source control were older, with a greater prevalence of shock, major organ dysfunction, bacteremia, inflammatory markers, and lactic acidemia. In addition, compliance with the resuscitation bundle was worse in those undergoing source control. In patients who underwent source control, crude ICU mortality was lower (21.2% vs 25.1%; p = 0.010); after adjustment for confounding factors, hospital mortality was also lower (odds ratio, 0.809 [95% CI, 0.658-0.994]; p = 0.044). In this observational database analysis, source control after 12 hours was not associated with higher mortality (27.6% vs 26.8%; p = 0.789).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite greater severity and worse compliance with resuscitation bundles, mortality was lower in septic patients who underwent source control than in those who did not. The time to source control could not be linked to survival in this observational database.

Acute Kidney Injury in Pediatric Severe Sepsis: An Independent Risk Factor for Death and New Disability. (Stulce)

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Fitzgerald JC, et al. Acute Kidney Injury in Pediatric Severe Sepsis: An Independent Risk Factor for Death and New Disability. Crit Care Med. 2016 Dec;44(12):2241-2250.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of septic acute kidney injury and impact on functional status of PICU survivors are unknown. We used data from an international prospective severe sepsis study to elucidate functional outcomes of children suffering septic acute kidney injury.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of patients in the Sepsis PRevalence, OUtcomes, and Therapies point prevalence study: acute kidney injury was defined on the study day using Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes definitions. Patients with no acute kidney injury or stage 1 acute kidney injury (“no/mild acute kidney injury”) were compared with those with stage 2 or 3 acute kidney injury (“severe acute kidney injury”). The primary outcome was a composite of death or new moderate disability at discharge defined as a Pediatric Overall Performance Category score of 3 or higher and increased by 1 from baseline.

SETTING: One hundred twenty-eight PICUs in 26 countries.

PATIENTS: Children with severe sepsis in the Sepsis PRevalence, OUtcomes, and Therapies study.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred two (21%) of 493 patients had severe acute kidney injury. More than twice as many patients with severe acute kidney injury died or developed new moderate disability compared with those with no/mild acute kidney injury (64% vs 30%; p < 0.001). Severe acute kidney injury was independently associated with death or new moderate disability (adjusted odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5-4.2; p = 0.001) after adjustment for age, region, baseline disability, malignancy, invasive mechanical ventilation, albumin administration, and the pediatric logistic organ dysfunction score.

CONCLUSIONS: In a multinational cohort of critically ill children with severe sepsis and high mortality rates, septic acute kidney injury is independently associated with further increased death or new disability.