EDOS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Early Detection Of Sepsis
IRAS ID
270482
Contact name
Gareth Ackland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
This study is testing a novel device to diagnose sepsis.
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when infection enters the bloodstream. The body's response to sepsis can lead to severe organ damage and even death. In the UK, approximately 50,000 people die from sepsis each year. Early diagnosis drastically reduces the rates of death as this permits the timely initiation of antibiotics. And yet, the gold standard test for sepsis can take up to 2 days to give any result. As a result, many patients receive antibiotics who do not truly have sepsis. This comes with increased risks of side-effects and antibiotic resistance. There is clear need for an early, accurate test for sepsis.
Sepsis leads to changes in blood immune cells and the amount of special molecules - termed immunotransmitters. Up until now, immunotransmitters have been difficult to measure in the laboratory. This study will use new technology to measure immunotransmitters in the blood to see if it can accurately diagnose patients with sepsis. Crucially, the results of this test would be available in minutes at the patient's bedside.
This study will recruit two groups of patients; one group admitted to intensive care with sepsis and one group of patients without sepsis. The groups will be broadly similar for age, sex and medical conditions. The sepsis group will have two blood tests (each less than 20ml or 4 teaspoons) while the patients without sepsis will have just one. Patients in the study would not directly benefit from this research but this work might help future patients. The only risk to any patient is the brief discomfort or slight bruising from a blood test. There will be no changes to any patient's medical care.
The study used blood samples obtained from preoperative patients and patients with sepsis in ICU. The samples were interrogated for release of certain chemicals that may give a clue as to how to diagnosis sepsis better. We discovered that the production over time of a common metabolite distinguishes between sepsis and other clinical conditions. This work is ongoing as part of a lab based diagnostic project.REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0053
Date of REC Opinion
16 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion