Background and Purpose—Lower respiratory tract infections frequently complicate stroke and adversely affect outcome. There is currently no agreed terminology or gold-standard diagnostic criteria for the spectrum of lower respiratory tract infections complicating stroke, which has implications for clinical practice and research. The aim of this consensus was to propose standardized terminology and operational diagnostic criteria for lower respiratory tract infections complicating acute stroke. Methods—Systematic literature searches of multiple electronic databases were undertaken. An evidence review and 2 rounds of consensus consultation were completed before a final consensus meeting in September 2014, held in Manchester, United Kingdom. Consensus was defined a priori as ≥75% agreement between the consensus group members. Results—Consensus was reached for the following: (1) stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is the recommended terminology for the spectrum of lower respiratory tract infections within the fi...

Diagnosis of Stroke-Associated Pneumonia: Recommendations From the Pneumonia in Stroke Consensus Group

Stroke produces a powerful inflammatory cascade in the brain, but also a suppression of the peripheral immune system, which is also called stroke-induced immunosuppression (SIIS). The main processes that lead to SIIS are a shift from a lymphocyte phenotype T-helper (Th) 1 to a Th2 phenotype, a decrease of the lymphocyte counts and NK cells in the blood and spleen, and an impairment of the defense mechanisms of neutrophils and monocytes. The direct clinical consequence of SIIS in stroke patients is an increased susceptibility to stroke-associated infections, which is enhanced by clinical factors like dysphagia. Among these infections, stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is the one that accounts for the highest impact on stroke outcome, so research is focused on its early diagnosis and prevention. Biomarkers indicating modifications in SIIS pathways could have an important role in the early prediction of SAP, but currently, there are no individual biomarkers or panels of biomarkers that are accurate enough to be translated to clinical practice. Similarly, there is still no efficient therapy to prevent the onset of SAP, and clinical trials testing prophylactic antibiotic treatment and β-blockers have failed. However, local immunomodulation could open up a new research opportunity to find a preventive therapy for SAP. Recent studies have focused on the pulmonary immune changes that could be caused by stroke similarly to other acquired brain injuries. Some of the traits observed in animal models of stroke include lung edema and inflammation, as well as inflammation of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

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Stroke-induced immunosuppression: implications for the prevention and prediction of post-stroke infections.

Procalcitonin after cardiac arrest - An indicator of severity of illness, ischemia-reperfusion injury and outcome.

Introduction: Procalcitonin has emerged as a reliable marker of acute bacterial infection in hospitalized patients and the assay has recently been incorporated into several clinical algorithms to r...

Novel applications for serum procalcitonin testing in clinical practice.

Procalcitonin: A new biomarker for the cardiologist.

Patients with extensive brain infarcts are at increased risk for stroke-associated respiratory tract infections (SARTI), which cause worse outcome. The benefit of general antibiotic prophylaxis is controversial. Early diagnosis of SARTI may improve patient selection for antimicrobial therapy. Procalcitonin (PCT) is widely recognized as serum marker for bacterial infections. Its diagnostic value with respect to SARTI has not been assessed systematically. Serum PCT levels were analyzed in ischemic stroke patients (n = 50) at day 1 (d1) and day 4 (d4) after stroke onset. PCT test performance was assessed by receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to identify early predictors for SARTI. Higher d4 serum PCT levels were associated with SARTI; ROC curve analysis revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.79 (95%-confidence interval (CI) 0.61–0.96). A 0.25-ng/ml cutoff resulted in a test sensitivity and specificity of 42 and 96%, respectively. Positive (LR+) and negative (LR−) likelihood ratios were 10.8 and 0.6, respectively. In predicting SARTI, multivariable logistic regression analysis controlling for infarct volume ruled out an independent explanatory effect of serum PCT. Greater infarct volume (odds ratio (OR) 1.06, 95%-CI 1.02–1.1) prevailed as independent SARTI-predictor. In the absence of clinical signs, post-stroke screening for SARTI using serum PCT levels is not useful since test sensitivity is low. If the clinical suspicion for SARTI is strong, serum PCT-testing (>0.25 ng/ml) may improve diagnostic accuracy by improving specificity.

Usefulness of Serum Procalcitonin Levels for the Early Diagnosis of Stroke-Associated Respiratory Tract Infections

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Usefulness of Serum Procalcitonin Levels for the Early Diagnosis of Stroke-Associated Respiratory Tract Infections