Introduction: About one-third of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) develop persistently decreased kidney function, known as acute kidney disease (AKD), which may progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although sepsis is the most common cause of AKI, little is known about sepsis-associated AKD.Methods: Using data from a large randomized trial including 1341 patients with septic shock, we studied patients with stage 2 or 3 AKI on day 1 of hospitalization. We defined AKD as a persistently reduced glomerular filtration rate for >7 days. In addition to clinical data, we measured several urinary biomarkers (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 [TIMP-2*IGFBP7], neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin [NGAL], kidney injury molecule-1 [KIM-1], liver-type fatty acid binding protein, and type 4 collagen) at 0, 6, and 24 hours, to predict AKD.Results: Of 598 patients, 119 (19.9%) died within 7 days, 318 (53.2%) had early reversal of AKI within the first 7 days, whereas 161 (26.9%) developed AKD. In patients with early reversal, 45 (14.2%) had relapsed AKI after early reversal, and only about one-third of these recovered. Among patients developing AKD, only 15 (9.3%) recovered renal function prior to discharge. Male sex, African American race, and underlying CKD were more predominant in patients developing AKD. None of the biomarkers tested performed well for prediction of AKD, although NGAL modestly increased the performance of a clinical model. Conclusions: AKD is common in patients with septic shock, especially among African American males and those with underlying CKD. Existing AKI biomarkers have limited utility for predicting AKD but might be useful together with clinical variables. Novel predictive biomarkers for renal recovery are needed.

BackgroundWe sought to determine the effects of alternative resuscitation strategies on microcirculatory perfusion and examine any association between microcirculatory perfusion and mortality in sepsis.MethodsThis was a prospective, formally designed substudy of participants in the Protocolized Care in Early Septic Shock (ProCESS) trial. We recruited from six sites with the equipment and training to perform these study procedures. All subjects were adults with septic shock, and each was assigned to alternative resuscitation strategies. The two main analyses assessed (1) the impact of resuscitation strategies on microcirculatory perfusion parameters and (2) the association of microcirculatory perfusion with 60-day in-hospital mortality. We measured sublingual microcirculatory perfusion using sidestream dark field in vivo video microscopy at the completion of the 6-h ProCESS resuscitation protocol and then again at 24 and 72 h.ResultsWe enrolled 207 subjects (demographics were similar to the overall ProCESS cohort) and observed 40 (19.3%) deaths. There were no differences in average perfusion characteristics between treatment arms. Analyzing the relationship between microcirculatory perfusion and mortality, we found an association between vascular density parameters and mortality. Total vascular density (beta = 0.006, p < 0.003), perfused vascular density (beta = 0.005, p < 0.04), and De Backer score (beta = 0.009, p < 0.01) were higher overall in survivors in a generalized estimating equation model, and this association was significant at the 72-h time point (p < 0.05 for each parameter).ConclusionsMicrocirculatory perfusion did not differ between three early septic shock treatment arms. We found an association between microcirculatory perfusion parameters of vascular density at 72 h and mortality.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00510835. Registered on August 2, 2007.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-018-2240-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Objectives: Etomidate is known to cause adrenal suppression after single-bolus administration. Some studies suggest that when etomidate is used as an induction agent for intubation of septic patients in the emergency department (ED), this adrenal suppression leads to increased mortality, vasopressor requirements, and length of hospital stay. The authors sought to determine differences in the in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS) between septic patients given etomidate and patients given alternative or no induction agents for rapid-sequence intubation in our ED.Methods: This was a nonrandomized, prospective observational study of all patients meeting sepsis criteria who were intubated in an ED over a 9-month period. Times of patient presentation, intubation, admission, discharge, and ⁄ or death were recorded, as well as the intubation agent used, if any, and corticosteroid use. The authors also recorded relevant laboratory and demographic variables to determine severity of illness using the Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS) score. Mortality and survivor LOS between the patients given etomidate and those given alternative or no induction agents were compared.Results: A total of 106 patients with sepsis were intubated over the study period. Of these, 74 patients received etomidate, while 32 patients received ketamine, benzodiazepines, propofol, or no induction agents. Age in years (median = 78; interquartile range [IQR] = 67 to 83), gender (45% male), MEDS score (median = 13; IQR = 10 to 15), and receipt of supplemental corticosteroids (56%) were statistically similar between the two groups. In-hospital mortality of patients given etomidate (38%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 28% to 49%) was similar to those receiving alternatives (44%; 95% CI = 28% to 61%). Surviving patients had a median hospital LOS after receiving etomidate of 10 days compared to those receiving alternatives (7.5 days; p = 0.08). Conclusions:No statistically significant increase in hospital LOS or mortality in patients given etomidate for rapid-sequence intubation was found. Suggestions that the use of etomidate for intubation in the ED be abandoned are not supported by these data.

Background:Severity-of-illness scoring systems have primarily been developed for, and validated in, younger trauma patients.Aims:We sought to determine the accuracy of the injury severity score (ISS) and the revised trauma score (RTS) in predicting mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS) in trauma patients over the age of 65 treated in our emergency department (ED).Materials and Methods:Using the Illinois Trauma Registry, we identified all patients 65 years and older treated in our level I trauma facility from January 2004 to November 2007. The primary outcome was death; the secondary outcome was overall hospital length of stay (LOS). We measured associations between scores and outcomes with binary logistic and linear regression.Results:A total of 347 patients, 65 years of age and older were treated in our hospital during the study period. Median age was 76 years (IQR 69-82), with median ISS 13 (IQR 8-17), and median RTS 7.8 (IQR 7.1-7.8). Overall mortality was 24%. A higher value for ISS showed a positive correlation with likelihood of death, which although statistically significant, was numerically small (OR=1.10, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.13, P<0.001). An elevated RTS had an inverse correlation to likelihood of death that was also statistically significant (OR=0.48, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.58, P<0.001). Total hospital LOS increased with increasing ISS, with statistical significance decreasing at the highest levels of ISS, but an increase in RTS not confirming the predicted decrease in total hospital LOS consistently across all ranges of RTS.Conclusions:The ISS and the RTS were better predictors of mortality than hypothesized, but had limited correlation with hospital LOS in elderly trauma patients. Although there may be some utility in these scores when applied to the elderly population, caution is warranted if attempting to predict the prognosis of patients.