Cohort profile of Acutelines: a large data/biobank of acute and emergency medicine

Abstract

PurposeResearch in acute care faces many challenges, including enrolment challenges, legal limitations in data sharing, limited funding and lack of singular ownership of the domain of acute care. To overcome these challenges, the Center of Acute Care of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, has established a de novo data, image and biobank named ‘Acutelines’.ParticipantsClinical data, imaging data and biomaterials (ie, blood, urine, faeces, hair) are collected from patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a broad range of acute disease presentations. A deferred consent procedure (by proxy) is in place to allow collecting data and biomaterials prior to obtaining written consent. The digital infrastructure used ensures automated capturing of all bed-side monitoring data (ie, vital parameters, electrophysiological waveforms) and securely importing data from other sources, such as the electronic health records of the hospital, ambulance and general practitioner, municipal registration and pharmacy. Data are collected from all included participants during the first 72 hours of their hospitalisation, while follow-up data are collected at 3 months, 1 year, 2 years and 5 years after their ED visit.Findings to dateEnrolment of the first participant occurred on 1 September 2020. During the first month, 653 participants were screened for eligibility, of which 180 were approached as potential participants. In total, 151 (84%) provided consent for participation of which 89 participants fulfilled criteria for collection of biomaterials.Future plansThe main aim of Acutelines is to facilitate research in acute medicine by providing the framework for novel studies and issuing data, images and biomaterials for future research. The protocol will be extended by connecting with central registries to obtain long-term follow-up data, for which we already request permission from the participant.Trial registration numberNCT04615065.

Exploiting the Features of Clinical Judgment to Improve Assessment of Disease Severity in the Emergency Department: An Acutelines Study

“…Data for this cohort study were obtained from the Acutelines data biobank [ 23 ]. Acutelines is a multidisciplinary prospective hospital-based cohort study in the ED of the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), a tertiary care teaching hospital in the northern Netherlands.…”

Macrophage Membrane‐Coated, Nanostructured Adsorbent Surfaces in a Microfluidic Device for Extracorporeal Blood Cleansing in Bacterially Induced Sepsis

“…Human plasma from patients with a diagnosed bacterial sepsis (see Table S1, Supporting Information for clinical details on gender, age, body temperature, sequential organ failure, possible ICU admission, whether deceased or not during treatment, and causative pathogens) was obtained from Acutelines biobank at the Emergency Department (ED) of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). [ 28 ] In order to allow the collection of data and biological materials when applicable upon first contact, primary screening of patients for eligibility upon arrival in the ED was performed 24/7 by the ED nurse together with a trained research team. Human plasma was collected upon triage, before starting treatment, and processed immediately at the ED followed by storage at −80 °C.…”

New, Useful Criteria for Assessing the Evidence of Infection in Sepsis Research

“…The third cohort included consecutively enrolled patients who were initially treated in the ED of University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland, with blood that was sampled for culture or with suspected sepsis. The fourth cohort was derived from a prospective cohort of consecutively included patients in the “Acutelines” biobank in the ED of University Medical Center, Groningen, the Netherlands, consisting of patients with the three highest triage levels according to the Emergency Severity Index and suspicion of sepsis ( 30 , 31 ). The fifth cohort was derived from a prospective cohort study that included consecutive patients with at least two Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment points and who were admitted to the ED of University Hospital, Jena, Germany.…”