Value of the soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor as a predictor of prognosis in patients attended in hospital emergency departments.

Objectives: To determine the value of the soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) for predicting outcomes in emergency department (ED) patients. Secondary objectives were 1) to measure the predictive value of the usual decision points, 2) to identify patients at low risk for mortality who could be safely discharged from the ED, and 3) to measure the correlation between suPAR and other biomarkers.

Material And Methods: Prospective observational cohort study of patients attended in the EDs of participating hospitals.

Seasonality of bacteremia cases in an emergency department.

Objectives: To assess seasonal variation in episodes of bacteremia.

Material And Methods: Retrospective cohort study of cases of significant bacteremia found in blood cultures ordered in a hospital emergency department. The incidence, etiology, diagnostic and prognostic yield were analyzed for each season of the year.

[Reducing the number of orders for coagulation tests in the standard emergency department blood work-up].

Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness of a clinical protocol developed to reduce the number of orders for coagulation tests.

Material And Methods: Quasi-experimental study with historical controls. We retrospectively included all patients whose records showed that a coagulation test had been ordered in the emergency department.

[Before-after study of the effect of implementing a sepsis code for emergency departments in the community of Aragon].

Objectives: To study the effect of an emergency department sepsis code on the degree of compliance with measures recommended by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and short-term mortality in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Aragon.

Material And Methods: Quasi-experimental study of 2 case cohorts, one including of cases before implementation of the sepsis code and one included cases managed afterwards. We extracted retrospectively data from hospital records for infectious processes and organ failures between December 2012 and January 2013 for the pre-code group and between December 2014 and January 2015 for the post-code group.