Mortality Predictors In Sepsis: A Retrospective Study

Objective: This study aimed to assess the specificity and sensitivity of three predictors of mortality in patients with sepsis: the presence of infection-causing microorganisms, the severity of disease classifications, and biomarkers.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 76 patients. All the patients were aged above 18 years, and were diagnosed with sepsis, admitted, treated, and followed-up in our hospital's reanimation unit between 01/01/2017 to 01/01/2018. Patients' demographic data, treatments in the intensive care unit, causes and durations, biochemical analyses, 24-hour Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II (APACHE-II) scores, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores, and microorganisms detected through culture analysis were analyzed in terms of their specificity and sensitivity in predicting mortality and morbidity.Results: Of the patients analyzed, 46.05% were women and 53.95% were men. The average age was 62.67 +/- 18.1 years, and the mortality rate was 51.31%. While sepsis developed postoperatively in 60.53% of patients, 39.47% of patients developed sepsis due to an internal medical pathology. The average duration of treatment was 35 +/- 43.7 days. The most common infection-causing pathogen was Klebsiella pneumoniae, followed by Staphylococcus aureus. In terms of fungal infections, Candida spp. was found to be the most common. In the first 24 hours of treatment, high SOFA, APACHE-II, procalcitonin values, and infection with Enterococcus faecalis were all found to be independent risk factors for mortality (p<0.05).Conclusion: In patients with sepsis, severity of disease classifications and E. faecalis infection are independent risk factors of high mortality rates, and should be considered in the evaluation of patients.