Gentian Diagnostics ASA announced that the results from a study conducted in collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital, confirming the value of calprotectin in management of patients with suspected sepsis are published in the scientific journal BMC Emergency Medicine with the title “ Plasma calprotectin as an indicator of need of transfer to intensive care in patients with suspected sepsis at the emergency department”. The study was performed in patients with suspected sepsis presented at the Emergency Department (ED) at Karolinska University Hospital. Patients with suspected sepsis trigger a sepsis alert, resulting in urgent (within 15 minutes) clinical assessment by a multidisciplinary team of physicians to identify whether infection is present, optimise clinical care and take a decision regarding the level of care.

Early recognition and treatment of septic patients have been shown to improve patient outcomes, and it is a need for biomarkers which will support clinical decisions. The aim of this study was to compare performance of calprotectin and the routinely used biomarkers procalcitonin (PCT), C reactive protein (CRP) and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) in estimation of disease severity and the prediction of the need for admission to intensive care for patients with suspected sepsis. In total, 592 patients triggered the sepsis alert during the study period, of which 351 were included in the study.

Among these, 319 patients had an infection, 66 were transferred to intensive care and 253 to the general ward. Calprotectin was the only biomarker able to distinguish between patients with bacterial infection and no infection. Moreover, levels of calprotectin were significantly higher in patients transferred to higher level of care compared to patients admitted to the general ward.

No similar tendency was observed for PCT, CRP, or NLR. The study results confirm elevated levels of calprotectin in patients with infection and show superior performance of calprotectin compared to CRP, PCT and NLR in detecting patients with need for direct transfer to intensive care.