This review article was written by Genglong Liu, Haijin Lv, Yuling An, Xuxia Wei, Xiaomeng Yi and Huimin Yi and published in January 2017 by International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
Sepsis is a serious illness which occurs when the body has an overwhelming immune response to a bacterial infection. The occurrence of Sepsis has increased in the last few years, and the associated mortality is high. Liu et al. aimed to explore the diagnostic accuracy of elevated early lactate levels in predicting mortality in septic or septic shock patients.
The septic response is a vitally complicated chain of events which includes inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes, hormonal and cellular reactions, and circulatory disturbance. It is essential to diagnose Sepsis early and monitoring and intervening risk factors could have an impact on the outcome.
The authors searched three databases and performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of all prospective observational studies (POSs) and retrospective observational studies (ROSs) prognosticating mortality.
As a conclusion, the initial lactate levels can be a strong prognostic marker of mortality in septic patients.
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Early lactate levels for prediction of mortality in patients with sepsis or septic shock: a meta-analysis