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Updated: Nov 9, 2025
Evaluation of a Reliable Biomarker in a Cecal Ligation and Puncture-Induced Mouse Model of Sepsis
Published on: December 9, 2022
A new tool for sepsis screening in the Emergency Department
Luisa Agnello1, Alessandro Iacona2, Bruna Lo Sasso1,2
1Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, Clinical Molecular Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Objectives:
In this study, we developed and evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the Sepsis Index for early sepsis screening in the Emergency Department (ED).
Methods:
Sepsis Index is based on the combination of monocyte distribution width (MDW) and mean monocyte volume (MMV). Sepsis Index≥1 was selected to define sepsis. We tested its diagnostic accuracy in an ED population stratified in four groups: controls, Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), infection, and sepsis, according to Sepsis-2 criteria.
Results:
Patients with sepsis displayed higher median Sepsis Index value than patients without sepsis. At the receiver operating characterictis (ROC) curve analysis for the prediction of sepsis, the area under the curve (AUC) of MDW and Sepsis Index were similar: 0.966 (95%CI 0.947-0.984), and 0.964 (95%CI 0.942-0.985), respectively. Sepsis Index showed increased specificity than MDW (94.7 vs. 90.6%), without any decrease in sensitivity (92.0%). Additionally, LR+ increased from 9.8 (MDW) to 17.4 (Sepsis Index), without any substantial change in LR- (respectively 0.09 vs. 0.08). Finally, PPV increased from 0.286 (MDW) to 0.420 (Sepsis Index).
Conclusions:
Sepsis Index improves the diagnostic accuracy of MDW alone for sepsis screening.
