Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22706919›Full record

SynthesisIntensive care medicine2012

Usefulness of suPAR as a biological marker in patients with systemic inflammation or infection: a systematic review.

Yara Backes, Koenraad F van der Sluijs, David P Mackie, Frank Tacke, Alexander Koch, Jyrki J Tenhunen, Marcus J Schultz

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Intensive care medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03147352 (ProTreat - Prognosis and Treatment of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections), which is not on this map. Cited by 133 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
133citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
15.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03147352 completednot on this mapstarted 2013, after this paper: background citation

ProTreat - Prognosis and Treatment of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections: A Prospective Cohort Study

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorOle HyldegaardRan2013 to 2018Enrolled260ConditionsNecrotizing Soft Tissue Infection, Necrotizing Fascitis, Gas Gangrene, Fournier GangreneArmsHyperbaric oxygen therapy
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

133 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 270 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Non-Infectious Causes for Elevated Procalcitonin.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026
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73 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Yara BackesDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. yarabackes@hotmail.com
Koenraad F van der Sluijs
David P Mackie
Frank Tacke
Alexander Koch
Jyrki J Tenhunen
Marcus J Schultz
Academic Medical Center · NLRWTH Aachen University · DETampere University Hospital · FIUniversity of Amsterdam · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSystemic levels of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) positively correlate with the activation level of the immune system. We reviewed the usefulness of systemic levels of suPAR in the care of critically ill patients with sepsis, SIRS, and bacteremia, focusing on its diagnostic and prognostic value.

methodsA PubMed search on suPAR was conducted, including manual cross-referencing. The list of papers was narrowed to original studies of critically ill patients. Ten papers on original studies of critically ill patients were identified that report on suPAR in sepsis, SIRS, or bacteremia.

resultsSystematic levels of suPAR have little diagnostic value in critically ill patients with sepsis, SIRS, or bacteremia. Systemic levels of suPAR, however, have superior prognostic power over other commonly used biological markers in these patients. Mortality prediction by other biological markers or severity-of-disease classification system scores improves when combining them with suPAR. Systemic levels of suPAR correlate positively with markers of organ dysfunction and severity-of-disease classification system scores. Finally, systemic levels of suPAR remain elevated for prolonged periods after admission and only tend to decline after several weeks. Notably, the type of assay used to measure suPAR as well as the age of the patients and underlying disease affect systemic levels of suPAR.

conclusionsThe diagnostic value of suPAR is low in patients with sepsis. Systemic levels of suPAR have prognostic value, and may add to prognostication of patients with sepsis or SIRS complementing severity-of-disease classification systems and other biological markers.

Indexed as

BiomarkersCritical IllnessHumansIntensive Care UnitsMultiple Organ FailurePrognosisReceptors, Urokinase Plasminogen ActivatorRisk AssessmentSepsisSeverity of Illness IndexSystemic Inflammatory Response SyndromeBiomarkersReceptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator

Identifiers

PMID22706919
PMCPMC3423568
OpenAlexW2043754323

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.