The role of serum proteins in sepsis

摘要

Sepsis, defined as infection with resulting systemic inflammation, afflicts millions of patients worldwide and may be increasing in incidence. Severe sepsis leads to hypotension, impaired systemic perfusion, organ dysfunction and has a mortality rate of approximately 25%. One of the fundamental tenets of our current understanding of sepsis is that an overly exuberant host inflammatory response to infection, rather than infection itself, is largely responsible for the organ dysfunction and death that results. Clinical outcomes in sepsis have been steadily improved by focusing on the early administration of organized supportive care and appropriate antibiotic therapy.