Ascites, Cirrhosis, Sepsis
Conditions
Keywords
Cirrhosis, Ascites, Decompensation, Bacterial infection, Sepsis, Procalcitonin, PCT
Brief summary
Infections are frequent life-threatening events in patients with cirrhosis, occurring at least in 35% of hospitalized patients and accounting for 20% of inpatients death. Among cirrhotics, ascitic patients have the highest risk of death for sepsis. At the admission, no clear-cut clinical and biochemical features are helpful in diagnosing and prognostically stratifying those patients with sepsis. Procalcitonin (PCT)is a breakthrough marker presenting high sensibility and specificity in diagnosing bacterial infections in different clinical settings. The purpose of this study is to evaluate PCT as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for sepsis in hospitalized cirrhotic patients with ascitic decompensation.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Prof. Facchinetti Fabio
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* liver cirrhosis regardless of aetiology * clinically relevant ascitic decompensation at time of hospital admission
Exclusion criteria
* high haematic ascites * ongoing antimicrobial therapy or stopped less than 7 days before admission * last hospital discharge within 7 days * surgery or trauma within 30 days from enrolment * hepatocellular carcinoma out of Milan criteria * extra hepatic malignancies * immunodeficiency syndrome * pregnancy
Countries
Italy
Outcome results
None listed