Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care-Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology consensus recommendations for clinical use of sepsis biomarkers in the emergency department

Abstract

Increasing evidence is emerging that the measurement of circulating biomarkers may be clinically useful for diagnosing and monitoring sepsis. Eight members of AcEMC (Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care) and eight members of SIBioC (Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine) were identified by the two scientific societies for producing a consensus document aimed to define practical recommendations about the use of biomarkers for diagnosing of sepsis and managing antibiotic therapy in the emergency department (ED). The cumulative opinions allowed defining three grade A recommendations (i.e., highly recommended indications), entailing ordering modality (biomarkers always available on prescription), practical use (results should be interpreted according to clinical information) and test ordering defined according to biomarker kinetics. Additional grade B recommendations (i.e., potentially valuable indications) entailed general agreement that biomarkers assessment may be of clinical value in the diagnostic approach of ED patients with suspected sepsis, suggestion for combined assessment of procalcitonin (PCT) and Creactive protein (CRP), free availability of the selected biomarker(s) on prescription, adoption of diagnostic threshold prioritizing high negative predictive value, preference for more analytically sensitive techniques, along with potential clinical usefulness of measuring PCT for monitoring antibiotic treatment, with serial testing defined according to biomarker kinetics. PCT and CRP were the two biomarkers that received the largest consensus as sepsis biomarkers (grade B recommendation), and a grade B recommendation was also reached for routine assessment of blood lactate. The assessment of biomarkers other than PCT and CRP was discouraged, with exception of presepsin for which substantial uncertainty in favor or against remained.