Endotoxin removal: how far from the evidence? From EUPHAS to EUPHRATES.

Abstract

There is a large amount of support for the safety of polymyxin-B (PMX-B) hemoperfusion in the treatment of septic shock from Japan and Europe. There is also support for potential efficacy, although randomized controlled trials are few and conflicting. PMX-B hemoperfusion represents a promising new treatment that could significantly improve survival. Previous clinical trials of PMX-B have been criticized for methodological issues, such as the absence of blinding, the use of surrogate outcomes and lack of longer term mortality outcomes. The variability in the number of treatment cartridges used, the selection of subjects based on likelihood of endotoxin presence without endotoxin measurement, and small sample sizes in mainly single-center trials have also been cited. The newly designed EUPHRATES trial (Evaluating Use of Polymyxin Hemoperfusion in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Adults treated for Endotoxemia and Septic Shock) addresses many of the methodological issues and represents a significant opportunity to test for clinical efficacy of endotoxin removal in the critically ill septic patient.

• Authors: Jean-Sebastien Rachoin, Debra Foster, R Phillip Dellinger
• Journal: Contributions to nephrology (Contrib Nephrol) Vol. 167 Pg. 111-118 ( 2010) ISSN: 1662-2782 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 20519905 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Chemical References

• Endotoxins
• Vasoconstrictor Agents
• Polymyxin B
• Oxygen

Topics

• APACHE
• Adult
• Cost of Illness
• Endotoxins (blood, isolation & purification)
• Hemoperfusion (methods)
• Hospital Mortality (trends)
• Humans
• Intensive Care Units (statistics & numerical data)
• Japan
• Meta-Analysis as Topic
• Oxygen (blood)
• Polymyxin B (therapeutic use)
• Risk Reduction Behavior
• Shock, Septic (drug therapy, economics, mortality, therapy)
• Survival Rate
• United States (epidemiology)
• Vasoconstrictor Agents (therapeutic use)