Sepsis is defined as the presence
of a serious infection that correlates with systemic and uncontrolled immune
activation. It is associated with high mortality, largely due to multi-organ
failure. Sepsis could be extremely dangerous in infants, elderly population,
immunocompromised and critically ill patients.
Early diagnosis and prompt
appropriate intervention is essential to halt the progression of sepsis and
improve survival. A positive
blood culture is the commonly used assay in sepsis diagnosis. However, this
diagnostic tool has its limitations as culture is time dependent resulting in
delay. Furthermore, positive blood cultures may not be present in many patients
with sepsis.
In recent years, serum lactate
testing in sepsis has become popular and it is being used in many centers to expedite
early treatment and to monitor response of the therapy. Researchers have been
working for quite some time to identify a "perfect biomarker" for
early diagnosis of sepsis.
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