Infectious pleural effusions can be identified by sTREM-1 levels

Area of Science:

• Medical diagnostics
• Biomarker research
• Critical care medicine

Background:

• Conventional methods for diagnosing pleural infection are slow and often insufficient.
• Biomarkers offer potential for rapid and accurate infection detection.
• Pleural effusions require timely and precise etiological diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare the diagnostic utility of pleural fluid biomarkers.
• To assess soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1), C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin.
• To determine the effectiveness of these markers in intensive care unit patients with pleural effusions.

Main Methods:

• An observational study included 36 patients with de novo pleural effusions and 40 control patients.
• Pleural fluid levels of sTREM-1, C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin were measured.
• Diagnostic performance was assessed using sensitivity and specificity.

Main Results:

• sTREM-1 levels were highest in empyemas and infectious exudates, low in transudates.
• Positive cultures correlated with higher sTREM-1 and C-reactive protein levels.
• sTREM-1 achieved 93% sensitivity and 86% specificity at a 50 pg/mL cutoff.

Conclusions:

• sTREM-1 demonstrates superior accuracy in detecting pleural infection compared to C-reactive protein and procalcitonin.
• sTREM-1 is a promising biomarker for rapid diagnosis of pleural infections.
• The findings support the use of sTREM-1 in clinical decision-making for pleural effusions.