New tests promise to improve sepsis diagnosis and treatment, MLO: Medical Laboratory Observer 53(2): 22-23

Sepsis represents the ultimate clinical ticking clock - given that patient mortality rates increase nearly 8 percent for each hour that appropriate treatment is delayed.1 Years ago, testing options for patients suspected of having bloodstream infections were limited to culture-based workflows, which take several days to deliver final results. Because these symptoms overlap with so many other health conditions, it is impossible to confirm a suspected diagnosis of sepsis without a lab test. In this stage, mortality rates climb to 40 percent, and patients who survive septic shock may develop lifelong complications from blood clots and other problems.2 In this phase, assuming all relevant laboratory testing has been performed physicians may reflex to guidelines that do not require lab testing, such as quick sequential organ failure assessment (better known as qSOFA), to help determine the next steps in patient care.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news