Observational studyPloS one2019
The prognostic value of neurofilament levels in patients with sepsis-associated encephalopathy - A prospective, pilot observational study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 63 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perioperative neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein as biomarkers of postoperative delirium: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Unveiling neurogenic biomarkers for the differentiation between sepsis patients with or without encephalopathy: an updated meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Prognostic performance of blood neurofilament light chain protein in hospitalized COVID-19 patients without major central nervous system manifestations: an individual participant data meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Probable sepsis-associated encephalopathy as a component of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in a cat with pyothorax.Australian veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Current knowledge and challenges of sepsis-associated encephalopathy.Intensive care medicine · 2026Review
- Ulinastatin Treatment Associated with Lower Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy Risk in Sepsis Patients: A Multicenter Observational Study.Shock (Augusta, Ga.) · 2026Observational
- Observational
- Recent advances in the biosensing platforms for sepsis diagnosis.RSC advances · 2026Review
- Blood-based biomarkers and delirium in critically ill adults in the ICU: a systematic review.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Review
- Diagnostic value of mismatch-negativity and P3a event-related potentials for sepsis-associated encephalopathy in non-sedated patients: a pilot study.World journal of emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Neuropathologic Autopsy Findings in Pediatric Sepsis: A Two-Center, Retrospective Study.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2026Article
- Brain-injury and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers are elevated in patients with suspected infection and physiological derangement: importance for context-specific interpretation of Alzheimer's biomarkers.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Impact of meningoencephalitis and sepsis on delirium and subsequent neurological impairment in pediatric patients: a prospective proof-of-concept biomarker and EEG study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Serum biomarkers of delirium in critical illness: a systematic review of mechanistic and diagnostic evidence.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2025Review
- Neurofilament-Light Chain and Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein as Blood-Based Delirium Risk Markers: A Multicohort Study.Aging and disease · 2025Article
- The Diagnosis of Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy Using Biomarkers: Are We There Yet?Avicenna journal of medicine · 2025Review
- Management of severe acute encephalopathy in the ICU: an expert consensus statement from the french society of intensive care medicine.Annals of intensive care · 2025Review
- Biomarkers of sepsis associated encephalopathy: a bibliometric and visualized analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Sepsis-associated encephalopathy: Mechanisms, Diagnosis, and Treatments update.International journal of biological sciences · 2025Review
- Yap1 alleviates sepsis associated encephalopathy by inhibiting hippocampus ferroptosis via maintaining mitochondrial dynamic homeostasis.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2024Article
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
15 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) contributes to mortality and neurocognitive impairment of sepsis patients. Neurofilament (Nf) light (NfL) and heavy (NfH) chain levels as biomarkers for neuroaxonal injury were not evaluated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma of patients with sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) before. We conducted a prospective, pilot observational study including 20 patients with septic shock and five patients without sepsis serving as controls. The assessment of SAE comprised a neuropsychiatric examination, electroencephalography (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and delirium screening methods including the confusion assessment method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) and the intensive care delirium screening checklist (ICDSC). CSF Nf measurements in sepsis patients and longitudinal plasma Nf measurements in all participants were performed on days 1, 3 and 7 after study inclusion. Plasma NfL levels increased in sepsis patients over time (p = 0.0063) and remained stable in patients without sepsis. Plasma NfL values were significantly higher in patients with SAE (p = 0.011), significantly correlated with the severity of SAE represented by ICDSC values (R = 0.534, p = 0.022) and correlated with a poorer functional outcome after 100 days (R = -0.535, p = 0.0003). High levels of CSF Nf were measured in SAE patients. CSF NfL levels were higher in non-survivors (p = 0.012) compared with survivors and correlated with days until death (R = -0.932, p<0.0001) and functional outcome after 100 days (R = -0.749, p<0.0001). The present study showed for the first time that Nf levels provide complementary prognostic information in SAE patients indicating a higher chance of death and poorer functional/cognitive outcome in survivors.
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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.