Sepsis
Specific point-of-care tests for early diagnosis of sepsis
Sepsis or, more accurately, a set of diseases ranging from systemic inflammatory response syndrome to sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock, is a whole-body inflammatory reaction to a severe infection of normally sterile sites. In adults, the mortality rate ranges between 20% and 60%, with prognosis depending on the early onset of appropriate therapy.
Metabolomics holds the promise of enabling fast and thorough characterization of a patient’s immune and metabolic responses and differentiation between sepsis and other inflammatory diseases, allowing early initiation of targeted antiseptic treatment as well as effective monitoring. Once an appropriate biomarker panel has been established using mass spectrometry methods, it will be further developed into a format enabling use as a bedside test.
