Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in patients with suspected infection in the emergency room: a prospective cohort study

Objectives The soluble form of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (suPAR) was evaluated as an early prognostic marker of sepsis in patients with suspected infection. Design A single‐centre prospective cohort study. Methods The cohort comprised 539 patients in the emergency department with suspected infection: 59 without systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and without bacterial infection (group 1), 68 with bacterial infection and without SIRS (group 2), 54 with SIRS and without bacterial infection (group 3), 309 with sepsis (SIRS and bacterial infection) and without organ failure (group 4) and 49 with severe sepsis (SIRS, bacterial infection and organ failure) (group 5). suPAR was measured on admission using a commercial solid‐phase enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results The median soluble form of the receptor (suPAR) concentrations in groups 1–5 were 4.7, 5.0, 4.4, 4.8 and 7.9 ng mL−1, respectively (P