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Background: Rapid risk stratification is a core task in emergency medicine. Identifying patients at high and low risk shortly after admission could help clinical decision-making regarding treatment, level of observation, allocation of resources and post discharge follow-up. The purpose of the present study was to determine short-, mid- and long-term mortality by plasma measurement of copeptin in unselected admitted patients., Method: Consecutive patients >40-years-old admitted to an inner-city hospital were included. Within the first 24 hours after admission, a structured medical interview was conducted and self-reported medical history was recorded. All patients underwent a clinical examination, an echocardiographic evaluation and collection of blood for later measurement of risk markers., Results: Plasma for copeptin measurement was available from 1,320 patients (average age 70.5 years, 59.4% women). Median follow-up time was 11.5 years (range 11.0 to 12.0 years). Copeptin was elevated (that is, above the 97.5 percentile in healthy individuals).Mortality within the first week was 2.7% (17/627) for patients with elevated copeptin (above the 97.5 percentile, that is, >11.3 pmol/L) compared to 0.1% (1/693) for patients with normal copeptin concentrations (that is, ≤11.3 pmol/L) (P <0.01). Three-month mortality was 14.5% (91/627) for patients with elevated copeptin compared to 3.2% (22/693) for patients with normal copeptin. Similar figures for one-year mortality and for the entire observation period were 27.6% (173/627) versus 8.7% (60/693) and 82.9% (520/527) versus 57.5% (398/693) (P <0.01 for both), respectively.Using multivariable Cox regression analyses shows that elevated copeptin was significantly and independently related to short-, mid- and long-term mortality. Adjusted hazard ratios were 2.4 for three-month mortality, 1.9 for one-year mortality and 1.4 for mortality in the entire observation period., Conclusions: In patients admitted to an inner-city hospital, copeptin was strongly associated with short-, mid- and long-term mortality. The results suggest that rapid copeptin measurement could be a useful tool for both disposition in an emergency department and for mid- and long-term risk assessment.

Background & Aims Inflammation and cardiac dysfunction plays an important role in the development of complications leading to increased mortality in patients with cirrhosis. Novel cardiac markers such as prohormone of ANP (proANP), copeptin and high-sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) and proinflammatory markers including soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are related to these complications. We aimed to investigate if cardiac and proinflammatory markers are related to severity of liver disease, cardiac and haemodynamic changes, and long-term survival. Methods One hundred and ninety-three stable cirrhotic patients (Child class: A = 46; B = 97; C = 50) had a full haemodynamic investigation performed with measurement of splanchnic and systemic haemodynamics and measurement of circulating levels of proBNP, proANP, copeptin, hs-TnT, LBP, IL 6, IL 8, IP 10, VEGF, hs-CRP and suPAR. Results Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, hs-CRP, and hs-TnT were significantly different throughout the Child classes ( P < 0.01; P < 0.01; P < 0.02). All markers except copeptin correlated with indicators of disease severity in cirrhosis; ProANP and suPAR correlated with hepatic venous pressure gradient ( r = 0.24 and r = 0.34; P < 0.001) and systemic vascular resistance ( r = −0.24 and r = −0.33; P < 0.001). Cardiac (proANP, hs-TnT; P < 0.01) and proinflammatory (hs-CRP, suPAR; P < 0.05) markers were associated with mortality in a univariate Cox analysis, however, the strongest predictors of mortality in a multivariate Cox analysis were hs-TnT, ascites and hepatic venous pressure gradient (reg.coeff.: 0.34, P < 0.001; 0.16, P < 0.001; 0.06, P = 0.04). Conclusion Markers of cardiac dysfunction and inflammation are significantly associated with disease severity, degree of portal hypertension and survival in cirrhosis. In particular, hs-TnT and suPAR seem to contain prognostic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: We investigated whether the inflammatory biomarker YKL-40 could improve the long-term prediction of death made by common risk factors plus high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and N-terminal-pro-B natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Background: Non-hospitalized CAD patients are usually followed in general practice. There is a need for identify biomarkers which could help to foresee the prognoses of these patients. Elevated serum YKL-40 is a short-term predictor for myocardial infarction, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with stable CAD. Methods: Serum YKL-40, hs-CRP, and NT-proBNP were measured in 4265 (97.6%) of the 4372 patients with stable CAD included in the CLARICOR trial, and death was registered in a 6-years follow-up period. Results: The median serum YKL-40 was 110μg/L [IQR=93], hs-CRP 2.8mg/L [IQR=4.74], and NT-proBNP 203ng/L [IQR=407]. During 6 years follow-up period 923 (21.1%) patients died. After adjustment for type of intervention, risk factors (age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking status, and previous myocardial infarction) and medical treatment (diuretics, digoxin, and statin) serum YKL-40 (transformed as ln(max(82, YKL-40/μg/L)) was significantly associated with all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR)=1.55, 95% CI=1.39–1.73, p <0.001]. After additional adjustment for ln(hs-CRP) and ln(NT-proBNP) this was still true [HR=1.38, 95% CI=1.21–1.53, p <0.001]. Conclusions: Serum YKL-40 is a predictor of long-term mortality in patients with stable CAD independent of common risk factors and ln(hs-CRP) and ln(NT-proBNP). Serum YKL-40 can be used for prognostication in these patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]