Is There a Difference Between Culture-Positive and Culture-Negative Septic Shock?

Culture-negative and culture-positive patients showed similar characteristics and outcome.

Severe sepsis and septic shock are among the leading causes of death for patients requiring intensive care. In roughly one third of cases the underlying pathogens remain unidentified, and this study sought to define that subgroup more clearly.

Researchers examined characteristics and outcomes of 8670 patients with septic shock treated in 28 medical institutions in Canada, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, between January 1997 and December 2010. The cohort was stratified according to whether a pathogen could be identified (“culture-positive septic shock”; n=6,019; 69.4%) or not (“culture-negative septic shock”; n= 2,651; 30,6%).

Culture-negative patients tended to be slightly older than culture-positives (mean age 63.9 vs. 62.0 years) but h…

Reviewing Author

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Thomas Glück, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsConsilium Infectiorum by InfectoPharm, Infection

Is There a Difference Between Culture-Positive and Culture-Negative Septic Shock?

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Reviewing Author