Background: The progression of biomarkers over time is considered an indicator of disease progression and helps in the early detection of disease, thereby reducing disease-related mortality. Their ability to predict outcomes has been evaluated using conventional cross-sectional methods. This study investigated the prognostic performance of biomarkers over time. Methods: Patients aged > 18 years admitted to the burn intensive care unit within 24 h of a burn incident were enrolled. Information regarding longitudinal biomarkers, including white blood cells; platelet count; lactate, creatinine, and total bilirubin levels; and prothrombin time (PT), were retrieved from a clinical database. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves using cumulative/dynamic and incident/dynamic (ID) approaches were used to evaluate prognostic performance. Results: Overall, 2259 patients were included and divided into survival and non-survival groups. By determining the area under the curve using the ID approach, platelets showed the highest c-index [0.930 (0.919–0.941)] across all time points. Conversely, the c-index of PT and creatinine levels were 0.862 (0.843–0.881) and 0.828 (0.809–0.848), respectively. Conclusions: Platelet count was the best prognostic marker, followed by PT. Total bilirubin and creatinine levels also showed good prognostic ability. Although lactate was a strong predictor, it showed relatively poor prognostic performance in burns patients.

Introduction: The reported mortality rates range from 28% to 100% in burn patients who develop acute kidney injury (AKI) and from 50% to 100% among such patients treated with renal replacement therapy. Recently, the serum cystatin C and plasma and urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels have been introduced as early biomarkers for AKI; the levels of these biomarkers are known to increase 24 to 48 hours before the serum creatinine levels increase. In this study, we aimed to estimate the diagnostic utility of the cystatin C and plasma and urine NGAL levels in the early post-burn period as biomarkers for predicting AKI and mortality in patients with major burn injuries. Methods: From May 2011 to July 2012, 90 consecutive patients with a burn wound area comprising ≥ 20% of the total body surface area (TBSA) were enrolled in this study. Whole blood and urine samples were obtained for measuring the serum creatinine, serum cystatin C, and urine and plasma NGAL levels at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after admission. Receiver operating characteristic curve, area under the curve, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the predictive values of these biomarkers for AKI and mortality. Results: In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, all variables, including age, percentage TBSA burned, sex, inhalation injury, and serum creatinine levels, serum cystatin C levels, and plasma and urine NGAL levels were independently associated with AKI development. Moreover, age, sex, percentage TBSA burned, and plasma and urine NGAL levels were independently associated with mortality. However, inhalation injury and the serum creatinine and cystatin C levels were not independently associated with mortality. Conclusions: Massively burned patients who maintained high plasma and urine NGAL levels until 12 hours after admission were at the risk of developing early AKI and early mortality with burn shock. However, the plasma and urine NGAL levels in the early post-burn period failed to predict late AKI and non-burn shock mortality in this study. Nevertheless, the plasma and urine NGAL levels were independently associated with AKI development and mortality within 48 hours after admission.

Background and Aims: Electrical burns are uncommon, but they result in high morbidity and mortality due to severe tissue damage. The purpose of this study is to analyze epidemiological variables of electrical injuries and identify preventable measures through them. Material and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 625 patients admitted to Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital’s Department of Plastic Surgery from January 2005 to December 2011. We divided the patients into two groups: (1) low-voltage injury (under 1000 V) and (2) high-voltage injury (over 1000 V). We reviewed the following variables: age, sex, total burn surface area, injury type and mode, and surgical modalities. Results and Conclusions: The mean age of all patients was 33.4 ± 18.2 years. The ratio of males to females was 13.5 in the whole group. The mean total body surface are burned was 14.0% ± 13.8% in total. The majority of electrical burns in the low-tension group and high-tension group occurred in patients under 20 years and in patients aged 40–59 years, respectively. Steel chopstick insertions and high-voltage electrical work/repair were the most common injury modes in the low-tension group and the high-tension group, respectively. Groin and abdominal distant flap surgeries were commonly performed in both groups. It is recommended that these risks be prevented through education and safety measures to reduce the incidence of electrical injuries.

Objectives: We evaluated the ability of new sepsis (S3) criteria (compared with previous definitions of sepsis [S1] and burn sepsis criteria) to accurately determine the mortality in severe burns patients with sepsis. Design: This was retrospective cohort study. Setting: The Burn ICU of Burn Center, Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, Seoul, Korea. Patients: A total of 1,185 adult patients (mean age, 49.1 yr) were admitted between January 2009 and December 2015. Interventions: The 1,185 patients enrolled in the present study and were then re-evaluated based on S1, burn sepsis, and S3 criteria, following which 565 patients, 812 patients, and 809 patients were diagnosed with sepsis based on S1, burn sepsis, S3 criteria, respectively. Measurements and Main Results: For diagnostic performance, sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, and likelihood ratio were calculated. The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated to determine the accuracy of mortality prediction. The optimal cutoff value of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was calculated by the decision tree method. Total body surface area burned was 33.4%. Patients were identified with sepsis using S1 (812), S3 (809), and burn sepsis (565) criteria. Overall mortality was 20.3%, highest (82.2%) and lowest (26.5%) occurred with new septic shock (SH3) and S3, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for burn sepsis (84.6% and 61.8%) and SH3 (63.1% and 96.5%) were reported. Area under the curve values for Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores were the highest in all sepsis categories. With Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score greater than or equal to 6 (with infection), the accuracy was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.82–0.89). Conclusions: The S3 criteria failed to show superior prognostic accuracy for mortality in severely burned patients. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score greater than or equal to 6 may be a better criterion for the diagnosis of sepsis in burns patients.