Survey of Endogenous Procalcitonin in Sepsis with Individual Sequencing (SEPSIS)

Ethos Discovery de novo study

Description

Sepsis is the result of a severe infection that has entered the bloodstream and is a common reason for dogs and cats to present to the emergency room. Even though sepsis has been heavily researched over the last number of decades, its overall mortality rates have not significantly improved in both human and veterinary patients. Previous studies have shown that the timely identification of sepsis and rapid implementation of appropriate therapy is paramount to the success of treatment. There is a growing need to identify blood tests that can more promptly confirm the presence of sepsis and to monitor its response to treatment. Human studies have shown that increased procalcitonin (PCT) concentrations strongly correlate with mortality in septic patients. A recent veterinary study demonstrated that, compared to healthy dogs, PCT levels were significantly greater in cases of sepsis. The results of this work highlight PCT as a promising marker for identifying sepsis and monitoring response to treatment. The goal of this study is to evaluate changes in procalcitonin levels over time in canine patients surgically treated for sepsis secondary to an abdominal cause (i.e. ruptured intestine). Additional blood sample collection will also be performed to investigate for possible novel markers for sepsis using next generation sequencing for the future development of diagnostic test.

Eligibility criteria

• Any dog that is undergoing surgery for the correction of a sepsis secondary to an abdominal source.
• The study will also be enrolling dogs undergoing surgery for the removal of a foreign object from their intestines, who are NOT septic.

Participating hospitals

• Bulger Veterinary Hospital, Lawrence, MA
• Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital, Woburn, MA
• Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital, Portsmouth, NH
• Vista Veterinary Specialists, Sacramento, CA
• Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital, Wheat Ridge, CO

Interested?

Enroll or request more information below