The Diagnostic Accuracy of Procalcitonin, Soluble Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptors, and C-Reactive Protein in Diagnosing Urinary Tract Infections in the Emergency Department-A Diagnostic Accuracy Study.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a leading bacterial infection in the emergency department (ED). Diagnosing UTIs in the ED can be challenging due to the heterogeneous presentation; therefore, fast and precise tests are needed. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic precision of procalcitonin (PCT), soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptors (suPARs), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in diagnosing UTIs, grading the severity of UTIs, and ruling out bacteremia. Methods: We recruited adults admitted to three Danish EDs with suspected UTIs. PCT, suPAR, and CRP were used in index tests, while blood cultures, expert panel diagnosis, and severity grading were used in the reference tests. Logistic regression and area under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROCs) were utilized to evaluate the models and determine the optimal cut-offs. Results: We enrolled 229 patients. PCT diagnosed UTI with an AUROC of 0.612, detected severe disease with an AUROC of 0.712, and ruled out bacteremia with an AUROC of 0.777. SuPAR had AUROCs of 0.480, 0.638, and 0.605, while CRP had AUROCs of 0.599, 0.778, and 0.646. Conclusions: The diagnostic performance of PCT, suPAR, or CRP for UTIs or to rule out severe disease was poor. However, PCT can safely rule out bacteremia in clinically relevant numbers in ED patients suspected of UTI.

Urine Flow Cytometry and Dipstick Analysis in Diagnosing Bacteriuria and Urinary Tract Infections among Adults in the Emergency Department-A Diagnostic Accuracy Trial.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a leading infectious cause of emergency department admission. Early UTI diagnosis is challenging, and a faster, preferably point-of-care urine analysis is necessary. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of urine flow cytometry (UFC) and urine dipstick analysis (UDA) in identifying bacteriuria and UTIs. This study included adults suspected of an infection admitted to three Danish emergency departments. UFC and UDA were the index tests, and urine culture and an expert panel diagnosis were the reference tests. We used logistic regression and receiver operator characteristics curves to find each test's optimal model and cut-off. We enrolled 966 patients and performed urine cultures on 786. Urine culture was positive in 337, and 200 patients were diagnosed with a UTI. The UFC model ruled out bacteriuria in 10.9% with a negative predictive value (NPV) of 94.6% and ruled out UTI in 38.6% with an NPV of 97.0%. UDA ruled out bacteriuria in 52.1% with an NPV of 79.2% and UTI in 52.8% with an NPV of 93.9%. Neither UFC nor UDA performed well in ruling out bacteriuria in our population. In contrast, both tests ruled out UTI safely and in clinically relevant numbers.

Antibiotic Guideline Adherence at the Emergency Department: A Descriptive Study from a Country with a Restrictive Antibiotic Policy.

BACKGROUND: Denmark has a low level of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Patients hospitalized with suspected infection often present with unspecific symptoms. This challenges the physician between using narrow-spectrum antibiotics in accordance with guidelines or broad-spectrum antibiotics to compensate for diagnostic uncertainty. The aim of this study was to investigate adherence to a restrictive antibiotic guideline for the most common infection in emergency departments (EDs), namely community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHOD: This multicenter descriptive cross-sectional study included adults admitted to Danish EDs with a suspected infection. Data were collected prospectively from medical records. RESULTS: We included 954 patients in the analysis. The most prescribed antibiotics were penicillin with beta-lactamase inhibitor at 4 h (307 (32.2%)), 48 h (289 (30.3%)), and day 5 after admission (218 (22.9%)). The empirical antibiotic treatment guidelines for CAP were followed for 126 (31.3%) of the CAP patients. At 4 h, antibiotics were administered intravenously to 244 (60.7%) of the CAP patients. At day 5, 218 (54.4%) received oral antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Adherence to CAP guidelines was poor. In a country with a restrictive antibiotic policy, infections are commonly treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics against recommendations.

Improved diagnostics of infectious diseases in emergency departments: a protocol of a multifaceted multicentre diagnostic study.

BACKGROUND: The major obstacle in prescribing an appropriate and targeted antibiotic treatment is insufficient knowledge concerning whether the patient has a bacterial infection, where the focus of infection is and which bacteria are the agents of the infection. A prerequisite for the appropriate use of antibiotics is timely access to accurate diagnostics such as point-of-care (POC) testing.The study aims to evaluate diagnostic tools and working methods that support a prompt and accurate diagnosis of hospitalised patients suspected of an acute infection. We will focus on the most common acute infections: community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute pyelonephritis (APN). The objectives are to investigate (1) patient characteristics and treatment trajectory of the different acute infections, (2) diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of infection markers, (3) diagnostic accuracy of POC urine flow cytometry on diagnosing and excluding bacteriuria, (4) how effective the addition of POC analysis of sputum to the diagnostic set-up for CAP is on antibiotic prescriptions, (5) diagnostic accuracy of POC ultrasound and ultralow dose (ULD) computerized tomography (CT) on diagnosing CAP, (6) diagnostic accuracy of specialist ultrasound on diagnosing APN, (7) diagnostic accuracy of POC ultrasound in diagnosing hydronephrosis in patients suspected of APN. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: It is a multifaceted multicentre diagnostic study, including 1000 adults admitted with suspicion of an acute infection. Participants will, within the first 24 hours of admission, undergo additional diagnostic tests including infection markers, POC urine flow cytometry, POC analysis of sputum, POC and specialist ultrasound, and ULDCT. The primary reference standard is an assigned diagnosis determined by a panel of experts. ETHICS, DISSEMINATION AND REGISTRATION: Approved by Regional Committees on Health Research Ethics for Southern Denmark, Danish Data Protection Agency and clinicaltrials.gov. Results will be presented in peer-reviewed journals, and positive, negative and inconclusive results will be published. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: NCT04661085, NCT04681963, NCT04667195, NCT04652167, NCT04686318, NCT04686292, NCT04651712, NCT04645030, NCT04651244.

Adherence to local antimicrobial guidelines for initial treatment of community-acquired infections.

INTRODUCTION: Adherence to antimicrobial guidelines is key to ensuring a correct treatment of severe infections and to lessening misuse of broad-spectrum antimicrobials. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study at the Emergency Department of Aalborg University Hospital, North Denmark Region. Our aim was to examine adherence to local antimicrobial guidelines in the empirical treatment of community-acquired infections and to identity any predictors of guideline non-adherence. METHODS: We identified 1,555 patients who had blood cultures performed and were admitted to the medical emergency department in 2016. We reviewed the medical charts of 755 patients and included those who received at least one antibiotic prescription within the first 24 hours of admission. We excluded patients with known immunodeficiency, severe renal failure or hospitalisation within the previous month. RESULTS: Of the 383 included patients, 203 (53%) received guideline-concordant antibiotic treatment. The treatment was guideline-concordant in 41% of patients with suspected sepsis of unknown origin, in 44% with pneumonia and in 37% with urinary tract infections. Patients with underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (25%) received guideline-concordant treatment significantly more often (83%, p < 0.01) than other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to local antimicrobial guidelines was not high. Further studies are needed to identify barriers to guideline adherence. FUNDING: None. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency (R. no. 2008-58-0028).

[Tetanus can still be found in Denmark]. / Tetanus ses stadig i Danmark.

Tetanus (lockjaw) is caused by toxins produced by Clostridium tetani, usually transmitted through contaminated wounds. We describe a case of tetanus in an unvaccinated, previously healthy 78-year-old woman. Twelve days after minor trauma to the right palm, initially treated with tetanus vaccination without immunoglobulins, she developed hoarseness, dyspnoea and difficulties swallowing and opening her mouth. She got severe, painful muscle cramps of especially the truncal muscles requiring large doses of sedatives and complicating respiratory insufficiency. She was treated in intensive care for 33 days, but recovered completely.