Endogenous thrombin potential as marker of procoagulant response that can be useful in early stage of sepsis

: Sepsis is associated with complex procoagulant and anticoagulant changes that modify inflammatory response. Identification of coagulation markers that can differentiate useful procoagulant response from adverse alteration of clotting mechanism in patient with sepsis. In total, 150 patients who fulfilled criteria for diagnosis of sepsis were included in this study. Patients were categorized in two groups according to sepsis severity in the first 24 h from intensive care unit admission: sepsis and septic shock. In total, 28-day mortality was assessed. Platelet count, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, D-dimer, fibrinogen, protein C, protein S, antithrombin levels, and endogenous thrombin potential were determined within first 24 h from ICU admission. Differences between groups of septic patients were assessed by Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical variables were compared using χ test. Receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to determine predictive values of variables for sepsis severity prediction. Activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time were significantly prolonged with higher D-dimer, lower fibrinogen, and natural anticoagulant levels (protein C, protein S, and antithrombin) in patients with more severe form of the disease and worse outcome (P < 0.05). Endogenous thrombin potential [area under the curve (AUC) %] was significantly decreased in patients with more severe form of sepsis (66.01 ± 41.51 vs. 83.21 ± 28.83; AUC 0.76) and in patients with worse outcome (67.66 ± 37.79 vs. 81.79 ± 32.15; AUC 0.68; P < 0.05). Evaluation of initial thrombin generation is useful to distinguish between beneficial coagulation activation and hazardous haemostatic alteration, and to predict multiorgan dysfunction development and poor outcome in septic patients.