Plasma fibrinogen is a reliable marker for diagnosing periprosthetic joint infection and determining the timing of second-stage revision

Serum Interleukin-6 Exhibits Better Diagnostic Performance Than Serum C-Reactive Protein in Acute Periprosthetic Joint Infection

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory biomarkers serve as the first-line screening tools for diagnosing periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). However, the kinetics and trajectory of each biomarker in response to inflammatory stimuli vary. This study aimed to identify the most reliable diagnostic predictors for acute and chronic PJI through a comprehensive evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of commonly utilized serum biomarkers.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 282 patients undergoing revision total hip or knee arthroplasty between January 2016 and October 2022. After exclusions, 218 patients were categorized into acute PJI (n = 46), chronic PJI (n = 62), and non-PJI (n = 110) groups. A PJI diagnosis was established according to the 2013 International Consensus Meeting (ICM) criteria. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin-6 (IL-6), plasma fibrinogen (FIB), and platelet count (PLT).

RESULTS

The IL-6 demonstrated the highest diagnostic accuracy for acute PJI, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.929, followed by CRP (0.853), ESR (0.816), FIB (0.788), and PLT (0.683). In contrast, CRP showed the highest diagnostic accuracy for chronic PJI, with an AUC of 0.908, followed by IL-6 (0.899), FIB (0.883), ESR (0.850), and PLT (0.770). For acute PJI diagnosis, the optimal cutoff value for IL-6 was determined to be 7.2 pg/mL, demonstrating a sensitivity of 93.5%, specificity of 83.6%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 70.5%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 96.8%. For chronic PJI diagnosis, the optimal cutoff value for CRP was 15.1 mg/L, yielding a sensitivity of 77.4%, specificity of 91.8%, PPV of 84.2%, and NPV of 87.8%.

CONCLUSION

Serum IL-6 and CRP exhibit excellent diagnostic performance for acute and chronic PJI, respectively. Pairing comparison reveals that IL-6 represents the most accurate biomarker for diagnosing acute PJI.

Clinical value of coagulation parameters in predicting the severity of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome

Introduction

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel bunyavirus infection with a high lethality rate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in coagulation parameters in patients with SFTS, aiming to provide clinical evidence for early diagnosis, treatment, and disease analysis.

Methods

A total of 40 patients with SFTS attended from April 1, 2020 to May 21, 2022 in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital were selected and grouped according to the duration of the disease, mild and severe disease, cure and death, with 50 healthy physical examiners as controls, and the risk of severe and death disease was predicted using ROC curves.

Results

Comparison between the healthy, mild and severe groups revealed that PT, INR, APTT, TT, D-D and vWF levels were higher than those in the healthy control group, and FII, FIX, FX, FXI, FXII, PC and PS levels were lower than those in the healthy control group, the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Comparing the results of SFTS patients with different course times, the results of Fib, FV, FVII, FVIII, FIX, FX, FXI were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Among the survived and deceased patients, the PT, INR, DD and PS results of the deceased patients were higher than those of the survived patients, and the FVIII, FIX, FXI, FXII and PC were lower than those of the survived patients. The area under the ROC curve showed that D-D had higher predictive ability for the risk of severe disease (AUROC 0.93, sensitivity and specificity at a Cut-off value of 1.50 mg/L were 90.0 and 86.5%, respectively) and the risk of death occurring (AUROC 0.84, sensitivity and specificity at a Cut-off value of 3.39 mg/L were 87.5 and 80.0%, respectively).

Discussion

The monitoring of the coagulation parameters in patients with SFTS is great significance for identifying the severity and death of the patient's condition, and it is of great clinical value to provide early attention, timely intervention and maximum reduction of the mortality rate for patients at risk of severe disease.

Fibrinogen, albumin-to-globulin ratio, and fibrinogen to albumin-to-globulin ratio may be potential diagnostic biomarkers for infected tibial nonunion

AIM

The accurate preoperative diagnosis of infected tibial nonunion remains challenging. Hence, we evaluated the diagnostic potential of novel biomarkers for infected tibial nonunion.

METHODS

This single-center retrospective study was conducted in 252 patients divided into two groups: infected tibial nonunion (67 patients) and aseptic tibial nonunion (185 patients). The preoperative clinical biomarkers included D-dimer, fibrinogen, albumin, globulin, total protein, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels; albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR); erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR); and white blood cell (WBC) count. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, sensitivity, and specificity were utilized to compare the biomarkers' diagnostic potential.

RESULTS

The area under the curve (AUC) values for fibrinogen and AGR were 0.829 and 0.821, respectively, suggesting similarly good diagnostic potentials for infected tibial nonunion. Fibrinogen and AGR were better diagnostic biomarkers for infected tibial nonunion than the WBC count; ESR; D-dimer, albumin, globulin, CRP, and total protein levels, whose AUC values were 0.623, 0.684, 0.741, 0.797, 0.765, 0.715, and 0.554, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of fibrinogen with a cut-off value of 3.35 g/L were 71.64% and 84.86%, respectively. The corresponding values for AGR with a cut-off value of 1.33 were 73.13% and 86.49%. Moreover, the fibrinogen-AGR (FAGR), i.e., the combination of fibrinogen and AGR, had the highest diagnostic accuracy for infected tibial nonunion (AUC = 0.906). The optimal FAGR cut-off was 2.69, with fair sensitivity (74.63%) but the highest specificity (94.59%).

CONCLUSION

Fibrinogen, AGR, and FAGR are promising biomarkers for the diagnosis of infected tibial nonunion.

Is Fibrinogen a Reliable Biomarker in the Diagnosis of Peri-Prosthetic Joint Infection? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: In recent years, several studies have identified closed correlations between the coagulation cascade and inflammatory mechanisms in infective diseases. Fibrinogen (PF) is emerging as promising biomarker for the diagnosis of peri-prosthetic joint infection (PJI). This study aims to investigate the diagnostic value of PF in diagnosing PJI and to explore potential causes influencing the diagnostic value of PF. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched regarding the role of fibrinogen as a biomarker in the diagnosis of PJI. Studies in English were included in the meta-analysis if they determined the diagnostic value of fibrinogen for PJI detection after hip or knee arthroplasty, applying the recognized diagnostic criteria for PJI. A quality evaluation of the studies included was performed. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) were obtained using the statistical software STATA, version 17 (StataCorp, College Station, TX). Results: Ten studies (9 retrospective) were included in the study. Low publication bias was detected, but with high heterogeneity among them. Plasma fibrinogen showed a good diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility in PJI (sensitivity, 0.81 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.75-0.86]; specificity, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.76-0.86]; AUROC, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.85-0.91]; DOR, 19 [95% CI, 14-26]). Conclusions: The attempt to find an "ideal" biomarker is crucial to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the current diagnostic algorithms for PJI. The analysis performed in the current study indicates that plasma fibrinogen test is a valid biomarker for PJI diagnosis.

The Diagnostic Value of Various Inflammatory Biomarkers for Diagnosing Periprosthetic Joint Infection is Gender-Specific

Objective

Previous studies have suggested that the diagnostic biomarkers of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) are largely influenced by gender. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of traditional inflammatory biomarkers, fibrinolytic biomarkers (fibrinogen and D-dimer), and C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin for PJI in different genders.

Methods

A single-center retrospective analysis was performed on revision total hip or knee arthroplasty between June 2013 to June 2021, and the study included 80 patients in the PJI group and 136 patients in the non-PJI group. PJI was diagnosed based on the International Consensus Meeting (ICM) in 2018. The levels of CRP, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), D-dimer, and albumin count were determined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Youden's index were used to evaluate the diagnostic ability of various biomarkers.

Results

The levels of CRP, fibrinogen, D-dimer, ESR, and CRP/albumin were significantly higher in the PJI group (P < 0.001). In PJI of females, the predictive value of CRP was the highest among the five biomarkers, with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98. The optimal predictive cut-off for CRP was 8.86 mg/L, with a sensitivity and specificity of 90.2% and 95.7%, respectively. When combined with the other four biomarkers, the AUC of CRP was 0.98, 0.99, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively. In PJI of males, the predictive value of ESR was the highest among the five biomarkers, with an AUC of 0.92. The optimal predictive cut-off for ESR was 14.50 mm/h, with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.6% and 86.6%, respectively. When combined with the other four biomarkers, the AUC of ESR was 0.95, 0.94, 0.93, and 0.97, respectively.

Conclusion

CRP and ESR were excellent biomarkers for diagnosing PJI in female and male patients, respectively, and their combined use with CPR/albumin could provide higher diagnostic value in different genders.

Globulin and albumin to globulin ratio precisely diagnose periprosthetic joint infection and determine the timing of second-stage reimplantation

Background

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is one of the most challenging complications of total joint arthroplasty (TJI). An early and accurate diagnosis of PJI is associated with better treatment outcomes. However, whether the platelet-related markers and globulin-related markers can be used to assist the diagnosis of PJI remains elusive.

Methods

A total of 206 patients who underwent revision hip or knee arthroplasty in our institution were divided into two groups: 79 patients in PJI group and 127 patients in aseptic failure group. The levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), platelet-related markers including platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT) and PLT to MPV ratio (PMR) and globulin-related markers such as globulin (GLB), albumin to globulin ratio (AGR) and PLT to AGR ratio were compared. The diagnostic value was measured using area under the curve (AUC) after constructing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The potential of each marker for determining the timing of second-staged reimplantation was also evaluated.

Results

Significantly increased levels of ESR, CRP, PLT, PCT, PMR, GLB and PLT to AGR ratio were identified in PJI group, while decreased levels of MPV and AGR were also found. The diagnostic values of all platelet-related markers and GLB were considered as fair, and good diagnostic values of AGR and PLT to AGR ratio were found, which were comparable to those of ESR and CRP. The levels of GLB and AGR can also be used to predict negative culture result and the timing of second-stage reimplantation.

Conclusions

Globulin and albumin to globulin ratio were found to have good diagnostic values for PJI, and they can precisely predict the culture results and persistent infection.

CRP/Albumin Has a Promising Prospect as a New Biomarker for the Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infection

Purpose

In the present study, we aimed to identify more effective biomarkers for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) by comparing the diagnostic ability of C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin, systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), and existing biomarkers.

Methods

In this single-center retrospective analysis, 216 patients who underwent revision knee or hip arthroplasty from June 2013 to June 2021 and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were analyzed, including 80 patients in the PJI group and 136 patients in the non-PJI group. The following information was collected for analysis, including CRP, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), D-dimer, platelet count (PC), neutrophil count (N), lymphocyte count (Lym), and albumin count on the second day of admission. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the diagnostic ability of various biomarkers, and further subgroup analysis was carried out in the PJI group.

Results

Compared with the non-PJI group, CRP, fibrinogen, D-dimer, ESR, CRP/albumin, and SII in the PJI group were significantly increased (P < 0.001), and their area under the curve (AUC) was 0.937, 0.878, 0.777, 0.914, 0.941, and 0.765, respectively. In the three subgroup analyses, there was no significant difference in appeal biomarker (P > 0.05) based on PJI culture results, infection time, and infection site.

Conclusion

CRP/albumin had a promising prospect as a new biomarker for the diagnosis of PJI, while it had insufficient predictive ability in the PJI subgroup analysis. However, SII had insufficient ability to diagnose PJI. Therefore, SII was not suitable to be used as a diagnostic biomarker.