Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the risk factors affecting the prognosis of patients with sepsis using a prospective design.
Patients and methods: From January 2022 to March 2023, a prospective study was conducted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Cangzhou Central Hospital, including 58 patients who met the diagnostic criteria for sepsis. Patients were divided into a survival group (39 cases) and a death group (19 cases) based on outcome. Within 24 hours, the following indicators were collected: gender, age, underlying diseases, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), lactate, procalcitonin, ejection fraction (EF), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), systolic velocity (S'), and global longitudinal strain/strain rate (GLS/GLSr) and global circumferential strain/strain rate (GCS/GCSr) by speckle tracking. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors for mortality in septic patients, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the predictive value of various risk factors for sepsis-related death.
Results: There was no significant difference in gender, age, underlying diseases, BNP, procalcitonin, EF, TAPSE, S', GLSr, GCS, or GCSr between the two groups (p>0.05). There were statistically significant differences in APACHE II score, SOFA score, cTnI, lactate, and GLS between the two groups (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that SOFA score (OR=2.32, 95% CI: 1.067-5.289, p<0.05), cTnI (OR=1.19, 95% CI: 1.001-1.312, p<0.05), and GLS (OR=1.58, 95% CI: 1.012-2.721, p<0.05) were risk factors for sepsis-related death (p<0.05). The areas under the ROC curves for SOFA score, cTnI, and GLS were 0.769, 0.757, and 0.846, respectively.
Conclusions: SOFA score, cTnI, and GLS are independent risk factors for mortality in patients with sepsis. Among these factors, GLS has the highest predictive value for patient prognosis. Therefore, when predicting the prognosis of patients with sepsis, the assessment of right ventricular ultrasound can be used in clinical practice.