Correction to: The early identification of disease progression in patients with suspected infection presenting to the emergency department: a multi-centre derivation and validation study.

In the publication of this article [1], there are two errors in contributing author affiliations. This has now been included in this correction article.

The early identification of disease progression in patients with suspected infection presenting to the emergency department: a multi-centre derivation and validation study.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of validated tools to assess potential disease progression and hospitalisation decisions in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a suspected infection. This study aimed to identify suitable blood biomarkers (MR-proADM, PCT, lactate and CRP) or clinical scores (SIRS, SOFA, qSOFA, NEWS and CRB-65) to fulfil this unmet clinical need. METHODS: An observational derivation patient cohort validated by an independent secondary analysis across nine EDs. Logistic and Cox regression, area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) and Kaplan-Meier curves were used to assess performance. Disease progression was identified using a composite endpoint of 28-day mortality, ICU admission and hospitalisation > 10 days. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred seventy-five derivation and 896 validation patients were analysed with respective 28-day mortality rates of 7.1% and 5.0%, and hospitalisation rates of 77.9% and 76.2%. MR-proADM showed greatest accuracy in predicting 28-day mortality and hospitalisation requirement across both cohorts. Patient subgroups with high MR-proADM concentrations (≥ 1.54 nmol/L) and low biomarker (PCT < 0.25 ng/mL, lactate < 2.0 mmol/L or CRP < 67 mg/L) or clinical score (SOFA < 2 points, qSOFA < 2 points, NEWS < 4 points or CRB-65 < 2 points) values were characterised by a significantly longer length of hospitalisation (p < 0.001), rate of ICU admission (p < 0.001), elevated mortality risk (e.g. SOFA, qSOFA and NEWS HR [95%CI], 45.5 [10.0-207.6], 23.4 [11.1-49.3] and 32.6 [9.4-113.6], respectively) and a greater number of disease progression events (p < 0.001), compared to similar subgroups with low MR-proADM concentrations (< 1.54 nmol/L). Increased out-patient treatment across both cohorts could be facilitated using a derivation-derived MR-proADM cut-off of < 0.87 nmol/L (15.0% and 16.6%), with decreased readmission rates and no mortalities. CONCLUSIONS: In patients presenting to the ED with a suspected infection, the blood biomarker MR-proADM could most accurately identify the likelihood of further disease progression. Incorporation into an early sepsis management protocol may therefore aid rapid decision-making in order to either initiate, escalate or intensify early treatment strategies, or identify patients suitable for safe out-patient treatment.

Prognostic power of biomarkers for short-term mortality in the elderly patients seen in Emergency Departments due to infections. / Poder pronóstico de mortalidad a corto plazo de los biomarcadores en los ancianos atendidos en Urgencias por infección.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse and compare 30-day mortality prognostic power of several biomarkers (C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, lactate, suPAR and pro-adremomedullin) in elderly patients seen in Emergency Departments (ED) due to infections. Secondly, if these could improve the prognostic accuracy of sepsis criteria (systemic inflammatory response syndrome and quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment [qSOFA]). METHODS: A prospective, observational, multicentre and analytical study. Patients aged 75 years and older who were treated for infection in the ED of 8 participating hospitals were enrolled consecutively. An assessment was made of 25 independent variables (epidemiological, comorbidity, functional, clinical and analytical variables) that could influence short-term mortality (at 30 days). RESULTS: The study included 136 patients, 13 (9.5%) of whom died within 30 days of visiting the ED. MR-proADM is the biomarker with the best area under the curve ROC to predict 30-day mortality (0.864; 95% CI 0.775-0.997; P<.001) with a prognostic cut-off>2.07nmol/l, sensitivity of 77% and specificity of 96%. The qSOFA score≥2 had an area under the curve ROC of 0.763 (95% CI 0.623-0.903; P=.002), sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 75%. The mixed model (MR-proADM plus qSOFA≥2) improved the area under the curve ROC to 0.878 (95% CI 0.749-1; P<.001) with the best prognostic performance with sensitivity of 69% and specificity of 97% CONCLUSIONS: MR-proADM showed the best performance for 30-day mortality prognostic power compared to other biomarkers in elderly patients seen in EDs due to infections. qSOFA score achieves better results than systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and the mixed model (qSOFA≥2 plus MR-proADM>2.07nmol/l) increased the predictive power of qSOFA.