A Rare Case of Severe Metabolic Alkalosis with Unusual Hyperproteinemia Treated with Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy and Regional Citrate Anticoagulation.

A 23-year-old woman was referred to the tertiary centre with acute kidney injury and severe metabolic alkalosis following an accidental ethylene glycol poisoning. The patient had been treated with continuous haemodiafiltration and regional citrate anticoagulation, and a tracheostomy was performed due to pneumonia. Besides severe metabolic alkalosis and hypernatremia, the laboratory tests revealed total protein of 108 g/L on admission to the tertiary centre. The haemodiafiltration with regional citrate anticoagulation continued with parallel correction of the alkalosis and normalisation of the total plasma protein. The tracheostomy was decannulated and the patient was discharged to the district hospital. The case demonstrates the usefulness of regional citrate anticoagulation even in severe metabolic alkalosis which was likely related to the method setting prior to admission and to an overcompensation of the initial severe metabolic acidosis. The unusual hyperproteinaemia might be interpreted with the aid of the Stewart-Fencl model of the acid-base regulation.

Role of linezolid in the treatment of resistant gram-positive infections.

Incidence of Gram-positive infections caused by bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics has increased in the last decades. Resistant strains appeared later in the Czech Republic, however their number has been increasing and new antibiotics have to be used. The greatest increase of frequency can be seen in infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci are usually found in hematooncology patients. Curative use of vancomycin is limited due to a narrow spectrum of activity, nephrotoxicity, and limited penetration into tissues (lung) and cerebrospinal fluid. Linezolid is a good option mainly in infections of skin and soft tissues, and it has an evincible advantage over vancomycin in the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia and surgical-site infections. Oral formulations are favourable allowing switch therapy and earlier discharge from hospital.

Expression profiling: toward an application in sepsis diagnostics.

Sepsis is a common and serious health problem whereby improvements in diagnosis are crucial in increasing survival rates. To test whether profiling transcription is applicable to sepsis diagnosis, we analyzed whole blood using a microarray containing probes for 340 genes relevant to inflammation. The patient's gene expression pattern was highly homogenous, resulting in 69% of differentially expressed genes. With a positive predictive value of 98%, a list of 50 differentially expressed genes was compiled, and randomly chosen transcripts were confirmed by PCR. Here, we present the first evidence that microarrays can identify typical gene expression profiles in the blood of patients with severe sepsis. Regardless of the heterogeneity of the patients, we observed a striking correlation between the conventional diagnostic classification and our approach. The unity of responses suggests that the principle of this multiparameter approach can be adapted to early stage sepsis diagnosis.

Significance of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (an acute phase protein) in monitoring critically ill patients.

INTRODUCTION: The present study was conducted to assess the value of serum concentration of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis and septic shock with respect to its ability to differentiate between infectious and noninfectious etiologies in SIRS and to predict prognosis. METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit. Sixty-eight patients, admitted consecutively to the intensive care unit and who met criteria for SIRS, sepsis or septic shock were included. Serum LBP was measured using an immunochemiluminiscence assay. RESULTS: Serum levels of LBP were significantly increased in patients with SIRS (n = 40; median 30.6 microg/ml, range 9.2-79.5 microg/ml), sepsis (n = 19; median 37.1 microg/ml, range 11.8-76.2 microg/ml) and septic shock (n = 9; median 59.7 microg/ml, range 31.1-105 microg/ml), as compared with levels in the healthy volunteers (5.1 +/- 2.2 microg/ml; P < 0.0001). Serum LBP at study entry was statistically significantly lower in patients with SIRS than in those with septic shock (P < 0.014); no statistically significant difference existed between patients with SIRS and those with sepsis (P = 0.61). Specificity and sensitivity of an LBP concentration of 29.8 microg/ml to distinguish between infectious and noninfectious etiologies for SIRS were 50% and 74.2%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in LBP concentration between survivors and nonsurvivors in both groups of patients. Furthermore, in septic patients the LBP response appeared to exhibit a decreased magnitude. CONCLUSION: LBP is a nonspecific marker of the acute phase response and cannot be used as a diagnostic tool for differentiating between infectious and noninfectious etiologies of SIRS.