Prospective Validation of a Transcriptomic Metric in Severe Trauma.

Objective:: To prospectively validate a previously discovered transcriptomic biomarker consisting of 63 blood leukocyte gene expression (S63) values to discriminate between trauma patients who rapidly recover and those with prolonged hospital stays who would benefit from early biological interventions.

Background:: Many severe trauma patients are successfully resuscitated but have complicated clinical trajectories leading to long-term functional, physical, and cognitive deficiencies. Identifying those trauma patients early would improve treatment plans and resource allocation.

The Epidemiology of Chronic Critical Illness After Severe Traumatic Injury at Two Level-One Trauma Centers.

Objective: To determine the incidence and risk factors of chronic critical illness after severe blunt trauma.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study (NCT01810328).

Setting: Two level-one trauma centers in the United States.

Microfluidics-based capture of human neutrophils for expression analysis in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage.

Gene expression analysis can be a powerful tool in predicting patient outcomes and identifying patients who may benefit from targeted therapies. However, isolating human blood polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) for genomic analysis has been challenging. We used a novel microfluidic technique that isolates PMNs by capturing CD66b(+) cells and compared it with dextran-Ficoll gradient isolation.