الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
Abstract
Sepsis remains a leading cause of death among hospitalized patients, and early and accurate diagnosis is critical to improving sepsis-related outcomes. Standard definitions of sepsis and severe sepsis are critical to effective communication among providers as well as to frame future sepsis-related studies.
The clinical manifestations of severe infections often mimic other, noninfectious, processes. An oversimplified set of diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of sepsis leads to potentially inappropriate antimicrobial exposure. Thus, the current set of criteria includes an expansion of markers of organ dysfunction and offers potential biomarkers.
The gold standard for diagnosing sepsis has always been considered the demonstration of an infecting organism. However, it has become evident that current culture-based techniques have severe limitations and advances in methods for routine detection of bacterial, fungal, and other atypical organisms are needed. Although many biomarkers have been described over the years, there remains no current consensus regarding the optimal biomarker or combination of biomarkers.