SUMMARY:

• Biomarkers used for the early diagnosis or prognosis of sepsis have evolved over the past few years.

• Most still require further data before being placed into a routine bedside use with high reliability.

• Concerns over biomarker variability and well-defined thresholds remain.

REVIEW:

• Over 250 sepsis biomarkers have been identified.

• Their potential is to provide early recognition of the sepsis condition and/or improve prognosis of outcomes.

• Further verification of these biomarkers in large-scale evaluations is necessary.

The Ideal Sepsis Biomarker should meet the following criteria:

• • High sensitivity and specificity providing an accurate sepsis diagnosis

• • Rapid and precise results to bedside clinicians

• • • Biomarker serves as a tool to:
      

• • • Identify the presence of sepsis
      

• • • Monitoring parameter for disease progression
      

• • • Assess treatment effectiveness
      

• • Provide reliable prognostic information on patient outcomes
    

• • Provide consistent and reliable data across diverse patient populations and clinical settings
    

• • Be cost-effective
    

• • Be non-invasive

CONCLUSIONS:

• Biomarkers will play an ever-increasing role in sepsis therapeutics in the future.

• Despite current advances, current sepsis biomarkers have limitations.

• Recent studies have identified novel sepsis biomarkers which hold promising potential for early sepsis identification, treatment assessment, and prognostic outcomes.

• Additional data is needed.

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Erkan Hassan is the Co-Founder & Chief Clinical Officer of Sepsis Program Optimization where he designs & oversees the implementation of solutions to optimize sepsis programs.

To discuss your organization’s Barriers of Effective Sepsis Care, contact Erkan by phone (844) 4SEPSIS (844-473-7747), email (erkan@spo.icu), or video chat.