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Objectives: To determine the value of the soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) for predicting outcomes in emergency department (ED) patients. Secondary objectives were 1) to measure the predictive value of the usual decision points, 2) to identify patients at low risk for mortality who could be safely discharged from the ED, and 3) to measure the correlation between suPAR and other biomarkers., Material and Methods: Prospective observational cohort study of patients attended in the EDs of participating hospitals. We recorded sociodemographic variables, comorbidity, variables related to the acute episode, prognostic markers commonly used in EDs, and suPAR concentration. Outcome variables were the need for hospital admission during the index episode, ED revisits within 90 days, and 90-day mortality., Results: A total of 990 patients with a median (interquartile range) age of 68 (53-81 years) were studied; 50.8% were men. The median suPAR concentration was 3.8 (2.8-6.0) ng/mL, and 112 patients (11.31%) required admission. At 90 days there were 276 revisits (27.9% of the cohort), and 47 patients (4.74%) had died. Mortality was lower (1%) in patients with suPAR concentrations less than 4 ng/mL (52.5%), and fewer of these patients revisited (24.4%) or required hospitalization (20.6%) than patients with suPAR concentrations higher than 6 ng/mL (mortality, 13.5%; revisits, 39.6%; admissions, 56.3%). A suPAR concentration over 6 ng/mL was associated with 90-day mortality and revisits (adjusted hazard ratios and 95% CIs of 4.61 [1.68-12.67] and 1.59 [1.13-2.10]), respectively. The high suPAR concentration was also associated with hospital admission (odds ratio, 1.62 [0.99-2.62])., Conclusion: A suPAR concentration of less than 4 ng/mL identifies patients at low risk of 90-day mortality and revisits or need for hospitalization, whereas a suPAR concentration higher than 6 ng/mL is associated with higher risk for these outcomes.

We investigated the incidence, clinical characteristics, risk factors, and outcome of meningoencephalitis (ME) in patients with COVID-19 attending emergency departments (ED), before hospitalization. We retrospectively reviewed all COVID patients diagnosed with ME in 61 Spanish EDs (20% of Spanish EDs, COVID-ME) during the COVID pandemic. We formed two control groups: non-COVID patients with ME (non-COVID-ME) and COVID patients without ME (COVID-non-ME). Unadjusted comparisons between cases and controls were performed regarding 57 baseline and clinical characteristics and 4 outcomes. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemical and serologic findings of COVID-ME and non-COVID-ME were also investigated. We identified 29 ME in 71,904 patients with COVID-19 attending EDs (0.40‰, 95%CI=0.27-0.58). This incidence was higher than that observed in non-COVID patients (150/1,358,134, 0.11‰, 95%CI=0.09-0.13; OR=3.65, 95%CI=2.45-5.44). With respect to non-COVID-ME, COVID-ME more frequently had dyspnea and chest X-ray abnormalities, and neck stiffness was less frequent (OR=0.3, 95%CI=0.1-0.9). In 69.0% of COVID-ME, CSF cells were predominantly lymphocytes, and SARS-CoV-2 antigen was detected by RT-PCR in 1 patient. The clinical characteristics associated with a higher risk of presenting ME in COVID patients were vomiting (OR=3.7, 95%CI=1.4-10.2), headache (OR=24.7, 95%CI=10.2-60.1), and altered mental status (OR=12.9, 95%CI=6.6-25.0). COVID-ME patients had a higher in-hospital mortality than non-COVID-ME patients (OR=2.26; 95%CI=1.04-4.48), and a higher need for hospitalization (OR=8.02; 95%CI=1.19-66.7) and intensive care admission (OR=5.89; 95%CI=3.12-11.14) than COVID-non-ME patients. ME is an unusual form of COVID presentation (<0.5‰ cases), but is more than 4-fold more frequent than in non-COVID patients attending the ED. As the majority of these MEs had lymphocytic predominance and in one patient SARS-CoV-2 antigen was detected in CSF, SARS-CoV-2 could be the cause of most of the cases observed. COVID-ME patients had a higher unadjusted in-hospital mortality than non-COVID-ME patients., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: To assess seasonal variation in episodes of bacteremia., Material and Methods: Retrospective cohort study of cases of significant bacteremia found in blood cultures ordered in a hospital emergency department. The incidence, etiology, diagnostic and prognostic yield were analyzed for each season of the year., Results: A total of 4384 blood cultures were ordered in 4.1% of the emergency patients attended. The diagnostic yield was 12.2% (incidence, 490 cases per 100 000 cases attended). Cultures were ordered more often in winter (in 4.6% of the patients vs in 3.8% in the other seasons on average, P<.001). The diagnostic yield was lower in winter than in the other seasons (10.2% vs 13%, P=.01), and the contamination rate was higher (4.9% vs 3.8%, P=.02). Escherichia coli was isolated in fewer cultures in winter than in other seasons (36.4% vs 46.9%, P=.03), and Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated in more (14.5% vs 5.9%, P=.001)., Conclusion: The microbiological profile of blood cultures, their diagnostic yield, and rate of contamination differ greatly in winter.

Objectives: To study the effect of an emergency department sepsis code on the degree of compliance with measures recommended by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and short-term mortality in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragon., Material and Methods: Quasi-experimental study of 2 case cohorts, one including of cases before implementation of the sepsis code and one included cases managed afterwards. We extracted retrospectively data from hospital records for infectious processes and organ failures between December 2012 and January 2013 for the pre-code group and between December 2014 and January 2015 for the post-code group. Staff training sessions on the campaign recommendations were provided and the code, which specified clinical pathways, was activated electronically on inputting clinical variables at the moment of triage. Outcome measures were the percentage of compliance with the campaign's recommendations in the first 3 hours after a patient's arrival at the emergency department in-hospital mortality, and 30-day mortality., Results: A total of 222 cases were included in each group. Compliance with the following campaign recommendations improved after implementation of the sepsis code: antibiotic therapy in the first hour (P=.100), extractions for blood cultures (P 001), lactic acid measurement (P 001), and recommended fluid loading (P 001). In-hospital mortality was 31.1% in the pre-code cohort and 20.7% post-code; 30-day mortality rates were 30.1% and 19.8%, respectively (P=.016, all comparisons)., Conclusion: Use of a sepsis code led to short-term improvement in how often the measures recommended by a sepsis survival campaign were put into practice.

Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness of a clinical protocol developed to reduce the number of orders for coagulation tests., Material and Methods: Quasi-experimental study with historical controls. We retrospectively included all patients whose records showed that a coagulation test had been ordered in the emergency department. We analyzed the number of tests ordered under the protocol and the number ordered during the period of standard practice., Results: Orders for coagulation tests were given for 657 patients (77.2%) when physicians followed standard practices and for 448 (55.5%) when they followed the protocol (P <.001). Unnecessary tests numbered 431 (65.6%) and 227 (50.6%) in the standard-practice and protocol periods, respectively (P <.002). One patient (0.15% [95% CI, 0.004%-0.8%]) had significantly altered coagulation (international normalized ratio, 1.8), but none (0% [95% CI, 0%-0.6%]) required treatment and no treatment plans were changed based on a finding of unexpected coagulation disorder., Conclusion: The protocol to guide the ordering of coagulation tests has managed to reduce unnecessary tests and thus improve management of this health service resource.