Cardiac Stress in Septic Shock - Biomarkers, Echocardiography and Outcome (Septic Heart)

December 10, 2012 updated by: Anna Oscarsson, University Hospital, Linkoeping

Cardiac Stress in Septic Shock - Biomarkers, Echocardiography and Outcome.

Septic shock is a major cause of death in intensive care. Septic shock is often dominated by profound changes in organ functions, of which cardiac failure is one of the most severe. In septic shock, biological markers of cardiac stress are often elevated. It is not known to what extent this indicates structural damage to the heart, or in what way they correlate to echocardiographic signs of heart failure.

Here, cardiac failure in ICU patients with septic shock is studied, using biological markers of cardiac stress, inflammatory parameters and echocardiography.

Investigators hypothesize that biomarkers of cardiac stress correlate with echocardiographic signs of heart failure, and that they can predict an increased risk of death.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Sepsis and septic shock are major health concerns worldwide. Sepsis is the consequence of inflammatory processes and humoral and cellular reactions to severe infection. Its clinical presentation is variable, with a continuum from a systemic response to infection to fulminant disease refractory to resuscitation and with multiple organ failure. Septic shock is the most severe form of sepsis and the leading cause of death in intensive care patients with a high mortality despite modern resuscitation and treatment.

Septic shock is dominated clinically by circulatory changes presenting with profound vasodilatation and hypotension. Cardiac output values are often seemingly normal, or even enhanced, when compared with the physiological range. However, relative to the vasodilatation, cardiac output is often not adequately enhanced. Thus, the degree of myocardial depression in sepsis is often underestimated by the clinician, albeit a factor that markedly increases mortality.

Septic cardiomyopathy typically engages both ventricles globally, and involves diminished cardiac response to volume and circulating catecholamines. It is not primarily hypoxic, but rather has a multifactorial origin. In survivors, it is typically reversible, but long-term consequences are not known.

Cardiac biomarkers, i.e. troponins and natriuretic peptides, are all associated with worse outcome in septic shock. Cardiac troponins are frequently elevated and correlate to the duration of hypotension and the intensity of vasopressor support. Elevated natriuretic peptides predict adverse outcome, and values are often markedly elevated even in seemingly normal echocardiographic findings. It is not clear whether this indicates structural myocardial damage, or rather demonstrate a global septic membrane leakage. Thus, with the complexity of sepsis, combinations of cardiac biomarkers and markers of global inflammation may provide a more robust tool for stratification and prognostication and for evaluation of septic organ dysfunction. In clinical cardiology, combinations of biomarkers of myocardial stress are used for stratification and prognostication of myocardial failure, but the role of such multimarker panels in septic cardiomyopathy has not been studied.

Echocardiography is used clinically, and has been the focus of several studies, to characterize septic cardiomyopathy. Echocardiographic signs of systolic dysfunction has been the main focus of previous investigations, and the systolic component is the focus of modern guidelines of clinical management in septic cardiomyopathy. The role of diastolic dysfunction is gaining interest, with data suggesting higher mortality in patients with diastolic dysfunction than in those with systolic dysfunction. To date, the correlation of echocardiographic signs of systolic or diastolic dysfunction myocardial stress biomarker panels, and the dynamics of any correlation, has not been studied.

The hypothesis of this study is that biological markers of cardiac stress correlate with echocardiographic signs of cardiac failure, that they can predict outcome, and that they correlate to conventional methods of outcome prediction.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

50

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

      • Linkoeping, Sweden, 58185
        • Recruiting
        • Dept of Intensive Care, University Hospital, Linkoeping
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

50 adult patients admitted to ICU for severe sepsis or septic shock.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients admitted to ICU for severe sepsis or septic shock

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Expected ICU stay <24hrs
  • Patients in which mental inabilities or language barriers impair the possibility of informed consent.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Septic shock

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Death
Time Frame: During ICU stay (max 30 days)
The proportion of deaths among patients in septic shock during ICU stay, with a maximum of 30 days.
During ICU stay (max 30 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Death
Time Frame: Within 30 and 90 days
The proportion of deaths within 30 and 90 days after ICU admission.
Within 30 and 90 days
Heart failure
Time Frame: During ICU stay
The proportion of patients showing signs of heart failure during ICU stay.
During ICU stay

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lina De Geer, MD, University Hospital, Linkoeping

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

October 1, 2014

Study Completion (Anticipated)

April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 24, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 10, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

December 11, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 11, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 10, 2012

Last Verified

December 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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