Early diagnosis of bacterial infections in surgical patients. Use of pathfast presepsin assay
Introduction: Surgical patients are vulnerable to infectious complications during hospitalization because of several factors.
Sepsis seems to be a common complication in the postoperative period, and prompt recognition and early intervention are
effective ways of reducing mortality in this condition. Various biomarkers have been studied for diagnosing bacterial infections
with aim to stop sepsis cascade. Presepsin, which is approximately 13 kDa, has been identified as a protein whose levels increase
specifically in the blood of sepsis patients. Additionally, the measurement of presepsin concentrations is useful for evaluating the
severity of infection and also for monitoring the clinical responses to therapeutic interventions. In this study, we evaluated the
analytical and clinical performance of PATHFAST Presepsin assay system based on the chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay
(CLEIA) principle and its usefulness in the early diagnosis of infection in surgical patients.