According to the center for disease control and prevention, sepsis is the number one cause of death in hospitals. Studies conducted by LSU Health sciences center say that Louisiana leads the country in these deaths.
Sepsis is the body's response to a bad infection. It happens when an infection triggers a chain reaction throughout the body. The most common infections that lead to sepsis start in the lungs, urinary tract, skin, or gastrointestinal tract. Without quick treatment, sepsis can rapidly lead to organ failure, tissue damage, or death.
Through the combined efforts of the LSU health sciences center, Our lady of the lake health, and the medical diagnostics company Cytovale, research, and testing have led to a better way to detect sepsis in its early stages. Partnering to conduct half a dozen studies over 7 years, efforts led to the creation of a new test called the Intellisep test. The new FDA-approved test will help doctors detect sepsis in the early stages saving many lives.
Dr. Hollis O'Neal, Critical care physician at LSU health sciences center and medical director of research at Our lady of the lake regional medical center said in a statement, “Early detection of sepsis is an invaluable capability for healthcare professionals. Quickly identifying sepsis is critical to saving lives, but until now, we’ve lacked a reliable tool to either recognize the condition or explore alternate diagnoses,”
In order to determine whether a patient is septic or non-septic, the IntelliSep test analyzes blood samples drawn from patients as they visit the emergency room. The test provides answers in less than ten minutes that can provide emergency department personnel the tools they need to make quick decisions that result in life-saving actions.
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