No abstract

Sepsis is a severe infectious disease accompanied by the discovery of a systemic response that can include hypothermia, hyperthermia, tachycardia, hyperventilation, and fatigue. Some studies suggest age is the most common risk factor for sepsis. The goal of the study was to determine the risk factors for sepsis in elderly patients associated based on age, gender, diagnosis, location of the infection, and length of treatment. The study used 100 samples of elderly patients aged 60 years diagnosed with sepsis. Descriptive analysis techniques with cross-sectional designs are used to explain the characteristics of each research variable. The results of the study explained that the risk factors for sepsis most in elderly patients by age are 70 years as many as 53 people (53.0%), female sex as many as 52 people (52.0%), endocrinological diagnoses as many as 24 people (23.5%), the location of lung infections as many as 20 people (19.6%), the length of treatment 3 to 7 days as many as 45 people (45%). Based on the results of the study showed that the elderly are an age that is susceptible to sepsis because the immune system and organ function will decrease with age. Endocrine diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, and infections of the lungs are the biggest risk factors for sepsis in the elderly.

Sepsis is an infection-induced syndrome, mostly caused by bacteria, of organ dysfunctions caused by host response dysregulations. One of the simplest sepsis-indicator is platelet. This study aimed to determine whether platelet indexes i.e. Immature Platelet Fraction (IPF), platelet count, Mean Platelet Volume (MPV), plateletcrit (Pct), and Platelet Distribution Width (PDW), could assess sepsis severity by procalcitonin (PCT). This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Clinical Pathology Adam Malik Hospital Medan from October to December 2016. Patients who had their full blood count examined with increased PCT ≥0.05 ng/mL were included. Sixty four of 71 patients with increased PCT were included in this study and separated into 3 groups based on their PCT levels (I = ≥0.05 – <2 ng/mL; II = ≥2 - <10 ng/mL; III = ≥10 ng/mL). Platelet count and plateletcrit showed a significant decrease when group I or II were compared to group III (p <0.05), but when the group I was compared to the group II there was no significance. On the other hand, the other platelet indexes showed no significance amongst the groups. Higher sepsis severity based on PCT affected more of the platelet number, as the result of platelet destructions caused by pro-inflammatory cytokines and endotoxins.