Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises as a systemic inflammatory response syndrome to an infection. Its uncontrolled progression can in frequent cases lead to multiple organ failure, which is still associated with high mortality rates. Modern antibiotics made clear that the infection is only an initiating, and not always necessary, event of this syndrome as many patients with sepsi...

Received September 15, 2000 Abstract Haemolytic uraemic syndrome is an unusual and serious complication of pneumococcal sepsis. We reported a boy presenting with pneumococcal sepsis who subsequently developed haemolytic anaemia, thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure. Washed red cell products, platelet concentrates and renal replacement therapy had been instituted in this patient. The boy rec...

Background Early identification and treatment of sepsis is essential for prognosis and outcome. Sepsis is a complex syndrome based on non-specific symptoms, making early identification a medical challenge. Elevated or lowered bodytemperature often release a blood culture. Our hypothesis is, that a lack of temperature upon admission influence on the time of diagnosis and thereby time of antibiot...

Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) is a central nervous system disorder, usually occurs in patients during hemodialysis (HD) or within 24 hours of HD. DDS was first described by Kennedy et al. in 1962. 11 If a critically ill patient on HD develops severe sepsis and septic shock with multiple organ failure (MOF), the adverse effect of HD on the brain is likely to be amplified, which may pred...

This Virulence special focus highlights the emerging critical role of endothelial activation and dysfunction in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and associated clinical outcomes. Infectious disease investigators might ask why endothelial biology should be of interest to them. We hope that this special focus will make the research community think otherwise. The endothelium is comprised of...

Patients with cirrhosis who are hospitalized for an acute decompensation (AD) and also have organ failure(s) are at high risk of short-term death. These patients have a syndrome called Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure (ACLF). ACLF is now considered as a new syndrome that it is distinct from "mere" AD not only because of the presence of organ failure(s) and high short-term mortality but also becau...

Despite considerable medical advances, sepsis is common and associated with high morbidity and mortality rates [1,2]. In 1991, the Task Force in the First International Consensus Conference used expert opinion to generate the then-current definitions of sepsis (First International Consensus Conference Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock [Sepsis-1]) based on the presence of systematic inflam...

Sepsis, a systemic inflammatory syndrome, is a response to infection and when associated with multiple organ dysfunction is termed, severe sepsis. It remains a leading cause of mortality in the critically ill. The response to the invading bacteria may be considered as a balance between proinflammatory and antiinflammatory reaction. While an inadequate proinflammatory reaction and a strong antii...

Severe sepsis refers to the syndrome of fever, hypotension and organ dysfunction resulting from infection, commonly due to Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria with or without bacteraemia1. Occasionally, non-bacterial pathogens, including fungi, rickettsiae, protozoa and viruses, can cause a similar syndrome. The first line of defence against infecting organisms comprises highly conserved in...