Sepsis-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction in Adults

Between November 2020 and March 2022, adults who had been admitted to the emergency department of Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital were selected for the study. Patients with sepsis were included in the study within the first 24 hours after admission. The inclusion criteria of patients were based on Sepsis 3.0 in the Third International Consensus Conference. Sepsis was defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction induced by a dysregulated host response to infection and a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score ≥ 2 (15 (link)). Sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction was defined as impaired but reversible cardiac dysfunction under echocardiography, including LV systolic dysfunction, LV diastolic dysfunction, and right ventricle (RV) systolic dysfunction (16 (link)). Patients who met the exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) age < 18 years old; (2) pregnancy; and (3) history of heart disease, such as acute coronary ischaemia, LV insufficiency, dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, or recurrent arrhythmia (5 (link)). The study complied with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Conference for Coordination of Clinical Practice and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.