Background Sepsis is one of the most significant healthcare concerns of the 21st century. In the United States sepsis affect 1.7 million adults, with 270,000 fatal cases, according to the estimation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The management of sepsis relies on early recognition, therefore the emergency departments have distinctive role in sepsis care, hence the need for early reliable risk stratification tools.
Methods A retrospective, quantitative study was performed in Department of Emergency, University of Szeged. Hungary. Patients with suspected infection were enrolled to four subgroups based on the results of patient examination and laboratory results. In all cases (N=276), cell population data markers were analyzed along with ordinary infection biomarkers, such as CRP, PCT and WBC. Performance of cell population data parameters were investigated with ROC (Receiver Operating Curve) analysis.
Results Almost all cell population biomarkers showed significant differences in the subgroup analysis. Remarkable performance was found in three markers (NE-SFL/M, MO-X/M and NE-WY/M) in patients having septic shock. Combining quick SOFA with these biomarkers (qS-Ne2Mo score) resulted in excellent diagnostic ability for septic shock (AUC 0.914, p<0.001), with good sensitivity (73.9%) and excellent specificity (89 %).
Conclusions Since determination of cell population data requires complete blood count analysis, turn-around time of this novel indicator is significantly lower than other methods. qS-Ne2Mo score might be used as an initial screening tool to select only those patients that need more extensive laboratory investigations for their proper treatment and spare inadequate, time and money consuming laboratory requests.
Trial Registration: University of Szeged, Ethical Committee ref. nr. 25/2016-SZTE