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In 2001 a sepsis definitions conference was held to determine whether new data existed to inform updates to the sepsis criteria established in 1991. Afterward, the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) announced plans to launch the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) with the goal of reducing mortality from sepsis by 25%. Given the prominence of sepsis and septic shock as emergency conditions, it is worthwhile to review how care has evolved to its current format and the future directions it may take.
Ludwig Lin, MD, speaks with Daniel E. Leisman, BS, about the article, “Patterns and Outcomes Associated With Timeliness of Initial Crystalloid Resuscitation in a Prospective Sepsis and Septic Shock Cohort,” published in Critical Care Medicine. Mr. Leisman addresses the controversy of the role of fluids in management of sepsis. Study findings showed that earlier crystalloid initiation was associated with better patient outcomes, including decreased mortality, mechanical ventilation, ICU utilization, and length of stay. Comorbidities and severity did not modify this effect. Mr. Leisman is a clinical researcher in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine, and MD/MSCR candidate at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, New York. Crit Care Med. 2017; 45(10):1596-1606. Released: 1/11/18
Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Clifford S. Deutschman, MD, FCCM, about his talk, “Sepsis Redefined: Why Do We Need a New Definition?” presented at the 2016 Critical Care Congress in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Deutschman is Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Pediatrics, and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Medicine at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York. He also serves as Director of the Center for Pediatric Research at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York.
The Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Immediate Past-President, Craig Coopersmith, MD, FACS, FCCM, discusses the new sepsis definitions published in JAMA and unveiled during the 45th Critical Care Congress. Dr. Coopersmith is considered a leading expert in the field of sepsis and offers an in-depth analysis of newly published sepsis definitions, which were endorsed by more than 30 organizations representing a wide spectrum of professionals who identify and manage sepsis. Dr. Coopersmith is a Professor of Surgery, as well as Director of the Surgical/Transplant ICU and Associate Director at Emory Center for Critical Care. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. “The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock” by Mervyn Singer et al was released by JAMA on February 22 in conjunction with the Joint SCCM/ESCIM Session: Sepsis Redefined. It was accompanied by several other JAMA and Critical Care Medicine articles meant to provide a conceptual framework to help patients, clinicians, researchers and hospitals apply the new definitions.
Use of Procalcitonin (PCT) for the diagnosis of infection has been studied extensively with conflicting results, in part because of the many different populations and clinical syndromes studied. This variability prompted Steven Reynolds, MD, FRCPC, and colleagues to report PCT values relative to baseline patient characteristics, ICU length of stay, infectious status and infecting organism. Jeffrey Guy, MD, delves into the conclusions of this article, “Longitudinal changes in procalcitonin in a heterogeneous group of critically ill patients,” with specific focus on why PCT is important when managing patients with suspected sepsis. Reynolds is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Published: Crit Care Med. 2012 Oct;40(10):2781-7
Marin H. Kollef, MD, is lead author of an article published in the March 2011 Critical Care Medicine titled, “Implementation of a Real-Time Computerized Sepsis Alerts In Nonintensive Care Unit Patients.” Dr. Kollef is a professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is also the director of both the medical intensive care unit and respiratory care services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Leticia Castillo, MD, FCCM, assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, discusses an article published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, “Secondary HLH and Severe Sepsis/Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome/Macrophage Activation Syndrome Share Common Intermediate Phenotypes on a Spectrum of Inflammation.”
Margaret Parker, MD, FCCM, discusses her article published in the January 2009 issue of Critical Care Medicine, titled “An International Survey: Public Awareness and Perception of Sepsis.” Parker is a professor of pediatrics, medicine and anesthesia at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. She is also the director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Stony Brook University Medical Center. Parker serves as the SCCM guest editor for pediatric podcasts and is an associate editor for Critical Care Medicine.
Because COVID-19 can create a status of systemic inflammation, which can affect multiple organs, including the kidneys, the adjuvant therapy of blood purification has gained some recognition. Host Pamela Peeke is joined by Javier Neyra to discuss clinical cases and the use of extracorporeal blood purification in COVID-19 patients (Rosalia R, et al. Blood Purif 2021. doi: 10.1159/000515627). Dr. Javier Neyra is an Acute Care Nephrology and CRRT Program and Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. This podcast is sponsored by Baxter.
Since the publication of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines, the focus has been on sepsis management, early identification, and treatment. (Evans L, et al. Crit Care Med. 2021;49:e1063-e1143). As more patients are surviving sepsis, they may be left with short- and long-term problems that need to be addressed. Host Ludwig H. Lin, MD, is joined by Christa A. Schorr, DNP, MSN, RN, FCCM, to discuss the implementation of initiatives for preventing impairments due to sepsis. They will also discuss the challenges faced by survivors of sepsis and the difficulties of matching care to the patient’s and family’s goals of care. In addition to the challenges of physical rehabilitation, patients often are uncertain about how care is coordinated to promote recovery and avoid complications and recurrence. Christa Schorr is a clinical nurse scientist at Cooper Hospital University Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey, USA.
Learn about the importance of utilizing dynamic assessments of fluid responsiveness to guide treatment in patients with viral sepsis, including COVID-19, and understand how they can be used to help improve patient outcomes in sepsis patients. Host Pamela M. Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, FACSM, is joined by Patrick Troy, MD, to discuss how only 50% of hemodynamically unstable patients are fluid responsive and that the same treatment paradigm in fluid management applies to both viral sepsis and COVID-19 patients (Douglas IS, et al. Chest. 2020;158:1431-1445; Latham H, et al. J Crit Care. 2017;42:42-46). This podcast is sponsored by Baxter. Patrick Troy M.D., is the Division Director Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Physician at Hartford Hospital, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
Examine the importance of data visualization in critical care research.
Receive an in-depth overview of the Epic and Cerner builds.
Killien et al (Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2019;Epub ahead of print) set out to evaluate the prevalence of health-related quality of life (HRQL) decline in pediatric survivors of community-acquired sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock and to determine which factors are associated with a failure to return to baseline HRQL.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is changing its priorities to invest in sepsis research in a more targeted and strategic way. In an important opportunity to help shape the future of sepsis research, NIGMS has issued a request for information related to its new priorities. The request for information is found here and is due by November 15, 2019.
This Concise Critical Appraisal discusses how Carcillo et al (Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2019. Epub ahead of print) compared mortality in children with severe sepsis and MOF who present with one of four phenotypes: 1) immunoparalysis-associated MOF (IPMOF), 2) thrombocytopenia-associated MOF (TAMOF), 3) sequential liver failure-associated MOF (SMOF), and 4) MOF without any immunologic phenotype. The study investigated the association between these phenotypes and macrophage activation syndrome, a potential common pathway of uncontrolled inflammation (Carcillo et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2017;18:S32-S45).
Most people know Angelica Hale as the tenacious young lady who won hearts with her incredible performances on America’s Got Talent in 2017. But before she became the youngest runner-up in the show’s history, she was a severely ill four-year-old with sepsis and kidney failure. Read ICU Heroes Award winner Angelica Hale's story.
Can the biomarkers identified in the Pediatric Sepsis Biomarker Risk Model (PERSEVERE II) be used to predict acute kidney injury and renal recovery in pediatric septic shock? This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a study in which Stanski et al (Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020;201:848-855) sought to answer this question.
Severe COVID-19 infection can be a form of viral sepsis with occasionally concomitant bacterial infection. Pamela M. Peeke MD, MPH, FACP, FACSM, is joined by Russell Miller, MD, MPH, FCCM, to discuss the definition of sepsis and overlap with case descriptions of patients with severe COVID-19, how experience with viral sepsis can be leveraged to diagnose and treat COVID-19 patients being admitted to ICU, and the need to be able to differentiate viral from bacterial sepsis to avoid over or under treatment. Dr. Miller is medical director of critical care at FirstHealth of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. This podcast is sponsored by Immunexpress.
Margaret M. Parker, MD, MCCM, and Jerry J. Zimmerman, MD, PhD, FCCM, talk about the trajectory of long-term mortality and significant health-related quality of life disability among children encountering septic shock. This discussion is based on two articles Dr. Zimmerman recently published in Critical Care Medicine, Critical Illness Factors Associated With Long-Term Mortality and Health-Related Quality of Life Morbidity Following Community-Acquired Pediatric Septic Shock (Zimmerman J, et al. Crit Care Med. 2020;48(3):319-328) and Trajectory of Mortality and Health-Related Quality of Life Morbidity Following Community-Acquired Pediatric Septic Shock (Zimmerman J, et al. Crit Care Med. 2020;48(3):329-337). Dr. Zimmerman is professor of pediatrics and anesthesiology and a faculty member and emeritus division chief of pediatric critical care medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital, Harborview Medical Center, and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington, USA. He has received research funding from National Institutes of Health, Immunexpress, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute, royalties from Elsevier Publishing as co-editor for Pediatric Critical Care, and travel reimbursement from SCCM.