Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40817240›Full record

ArticleJournal of intensive care2025

Evaluating the diagnostic performance of adult sepsis event criteria in the emergency department: impact of including isolated serum lactate elevations.

Hyojun Park, Ryoung-Eun Ko, Hyo-Seok Oh, Jae Young Moon, Youjin Chang, Gee Young Suh

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of intensive care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

6 authors.

Hyojun Park *Department of Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
Ryoung-Eun Ko *Department of Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
Hyo-Seok OhDepartment of Critical Care Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
Jae Young MoonDepartment of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
Youjin ChangDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea. yjchang0110@gmail.com.
Gee Young SuhDepartment of Critical Care Medicine and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea. smccritcare@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Adult Sepsis Event (ASE) criteria, developed by the US. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), utilize electronic Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (eSOFA) scores derived from structured electronic health records to retrospectively detect organ dysfunction in patients with suspected sepsis. While validated primarily in inpatient cohorts, their applicability in emergency department (ED) populations remains uncertain. Moreover, the impact of including isolated serum lactate elevation as a marker of organ dysfunction in eSOFA has not been systematically evaluated.

methodsWe retrospectively reviewed data from 698 patients (aged ≥ 19 years) with suspected infections presenting to the EDs of three institutions from September 1 to 30, 2023. Blood cultures were obtained from all patients. Patients were classified according to Sepsis-3 (≥ 2-point SOFA score increase from baseline) and ASE-defined eSOFA (organ dysfunction occurring within ± 2 days of blood culture collection). Extended eSOFA additionally included isolated lactate elevation (≥ 2.0 mmol/L). Diagnostic performance was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV).

resultsAmong 698 patients, 456 (65.3%) met Sepsis-3 criteria, 251 (35.9%) met ASE-defined eSOFA, and 340 (48.7%) met extended eSOFA criteria. Mortality was highest (19.8%) among patients classified by both SOFA and eSOFA. ASE-defined eSOFA demonstrated moderate sensitivity (52.0%) and high specificity (94.2%), with a PPV of 94.4%. Extended eSOFA improved sensitivity (64.3%) but lowered specificity (80.6%). Mortality increased with the number of dysfunctional organ categories. Notably, the inclusion of isolated lactate elevations identified additional high-risk patients not captured by eSOFA.

conclusionASE-defined eSOFA moderately aligns with Sepsis-3 criteria, effectively identifying high-risk ED sepsis cases. Extended eSOFA criteria with lactate enhance sensitivity but reduce specificity, suggesting tailored application based on clinical settings and available resources.

Indexed as

Adult sepsis eventLactateSepsisSequential organ failure assessment scoreSurveillance

Identifiers

PMID40817240
PMCPMC12355883

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Registered trials

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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.