Prognostic Accuracy of Quick SOFA is different according to the severity of illness in infectious patients.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis-3 proposed the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) to identify sepsis patients likely to have poor outcome. The clinical utility of qSOFA still remains controversial because its predictive accuracy for mortality is quite different across the validation studies. We hypothesized that one of the major causes for these controversial findings was the heterogeneity in severity across the studies, and evaluated the association between severity of illness and the prognostic accuracy of qSOFA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a post hoc analysis of a prospective nationwide cohort of consecutive adult patients with sepsis in 59 intensive care units in Japan. Regression trees analysis for survival was used to classify patients according to severity of illness as determined by SOFA score on registration. We conducted receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses and evaluated the differences in the area under the ROC curve (AUROC). As a subgroup analysis, we conducted the above evaluations in emergency department (ED) and non-ED patients separately. RESULTS: We included 1114 patients fulfilling the criteria and classified them into three subsets according to severity. The AUROC for mortality was significantly different according to the severity of illness (p = 0.007), with the highest AUROC being in the low-severity subset (patients with SOFA score ≤ 7). Interestingly, our subgroup analysis revealed that a significant difference in the AUROC of qSOFA was observed only in ED patients. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that lower severity of illness was associated with the relatively higher prognostic accuracy of qSOFA, especially in ED patients.

Hour-1 bundle adherence was associated with reduction of in-hospital mortality among patients with sepsis in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The updated Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend a 1-hour window for completion of a sepsis care bundle; however, the effectiveness of the hour-1 bundle has not been fully evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of hour-1 bundle completion on clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. METHODS: This was a multicenter, prospective, observational study conducted in 17 intensive care units in tertiary hospitals in Japan. We included all adult patients who were diagnosed as having sepsis by Sepsis-3 and admitted to intensive care units from July 2019 to August 2020. Impacts of hour-1 bundle adherence and delay of adherence on risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality were estimated by multivariable logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The final study cohort included 178 patients with sepsis. Among them, 89 received bundle-adherent care. Completion rates of each component (measure lactate level, obtain blood cultures, administer broad-spectrum antibiotics, administer crystalloid, apply vasopressors) within 1 hour were 98.9%, 86.2%, 51.1%, 94.9%, and 69.1%, respectively. Completion rate of all components within 1 hour was 50%. In-hospital mortality was 18.0% in the patients with and 30.3% in the patients without bundle-adherent care (p = 0.054). The adjusted odds ratio of non-bundle-adherent versus bundle-adherent care for in-hospital mortality was 2.32 (95% CI 1.09-4.95) using propensity scoring. Non-adherence to obtaining blood cultures and administering broad-spectrum antibiotics within 1 hour was related to in-hospital mortality (2.65 [95% CI 1.25-5.62] and 4.81 [95% CI 1.38-16.72], respectively). The adjusted odds ratio for 1-hour delay in achieving hour-1 bundle components for in-hospital mortality was 1.28 (95% CI 1.04-1.57) by logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Completion of the hour-1 bundle was associated with lower in-hospital mortality. Obtaining blood cultures and administering antibiotics within 1 hour may have been the components most contributing to decreased in-hospital mortality.

Current spectrum of causative pathogens in sepsis: A prospective nationwide cohort study in Japan.

BACKGROUND: There is no one-size-fits-all empiric antimicrobial therapy for sepsis because the pathogens vary according to the site of infection and have changed over time. Therefore, updating knowledge on the spectrum of pathogens is necessary for the rapid administration of appropriate antimicrobials. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to elucidate the current spectrum of pathogens and its variation by site of infection in sepsis. METHODS: This was a prospective nationwide cohort study of consecutive adult patients with sepsis in 59 intensive care units in Japan. The spectrum of pathogens was evaluated in all patients and in subgroups by site of infection. Regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between the pathogens and mortality. RESULTS: The study cohort comprised 1184 patients. The most common pathogen was Escherichia coli (21.5%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.0%). However, the pattern varied widely by site of infection; for example, gram-positive bacteria were the dominant pathogen in bone/soft tissue infection (55.7%) and cardiovascular infection (52.6%), but were rarely identified in urinary tract infection (6.4%). In contrast, gram-negative bacteria were the predominant pathogens in abdominal infection (38.4%) and urinary tract infection (72.0%). The highest mortality of 47.5% was observed in patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which was significantly associated with an increased risk of death (odds ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.22-2.91). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed the current spectrum of pathogens and its variation based on the site of infection, which is essential for empiric antimicrobial therapy against sepsis.

Identifying Sepsis Populations Benefitting from Anticoagulant Therapy: A Prospective Cohort Study Incorporating a Restricted Cubic Spline Regression Model.

BACKGROUND: Anticoagulant therapy has seldom been achieved in randomized trials targeting nonspecific overall sepsis patients. Although the key components to identify the appropriate target in sepsis may be disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and high disease severity, the interaction and relation of these two components for the effectiveness of therapy remain unknown. OBJECTIVE: This article identifies the optimal target of anticoagulant therapy in sepsis. METHODS: We used a prospective nationwide cohort targeting consecutive adult severe sepsis patients in 59 intensive care units in Japan to assess associations between anticoagulant therapy and in-hospital mortality according to DIC (International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis [ISTH] overt and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine DIC scores) and disease severity (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE II] and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis with nonlinear restricted cubic spline including a two-way interaction term (treatment × each score) and three-way interaction term (treatment × ISTH overt DIC score × APACHE II score) was performed. RESULTS: The final study cohort comprised 1,178 sepsis patients (371 received anticoagulants and 768 did not). The regression model including the two-way interaction term showed significant interaction between intervention and disease severity as indicated by the ISTH overt DIC score and APACHE II score (p = 0.046 and p = 0.101, respectively). Three-way interaction analysis revealed that risk hazard was suppressed in the anticoagulant group compared with the control group in the most severe subset of both scores. CONCLUSION: Anticoagulant therapy was associated with better outcome according to the deterioration of both DIC and disease severity, suggesting that anticoagulant therapy should be restricted to patients having DIC and high disease severity simultaneously.