From Mass to Flow: Emerging Sepsis Diagnostics Based on Flow Cytometry Analysis of Neutrophils

• Published in: American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine Vol. 205; no. 1; pp. 2 - 4
• Main Authors: Verdonk, Franck, Hsu, Joe L, Gaudilliere, Brice
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Thoracic Society 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Critical care; Flow Cytometry; Human health and pathology; Humans; Life Sciences; Medical diagnosis; Mortality; Neutrophils; Pulmonology and respiratory tract; Sepsis; Sepsis - diagnosis
• ISSN: 1073-449X; 1535-4970
• DOI: 10.1164/rccm.202110-2291ED

Sepsis mortality decreases dramatically with timely initiation of standardized clinical management protocols including adequate antibiotic therapy, source control, and aggressive hemodynamic resuscitation. Despite best practice recommendations by international critical care societies for the implementation of sepsis screening tools in health systems, the ability to diagnose sepsis early and accurately remains a major challenge for emergency and critical care clinicians. Current diagnostic criteria primarily reflecting sepsis-related organ dysfunctions rather than pathobiological mechanisms lack specificity, often leading to under ) or overdiagnosis. New translational research approaches to study the pathogenesis of sepsis in humans are needed to identify metabolic, immunologic and microbial dysfunctions specific to sepsis and to provide the biological elements of accurate diagnostic tools. Here, Hsu et al highlight the study Meghraoui-Kheddar and colleagues that used a high-dimensional mass cytometry approach for an in-depth and single-cell immune profile comparing patients with sepsis with those with sterile inflammation.