Clinical studies

Sepsis is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Despite intensive research efforts in recent decades, there is no specific therapy for this disease. Concepts for the diagnostic stratification of the very heterogeneous patient collective with the possibility of an individualised therapy do not exist in clinical practice. Only now are physicians and scientists becoming increasingly aware of the restrictions on organ functions and the limited quality of life – in addition to the demonstrably increased mortality of patients – after the initial survival of sepsis and intensive therapy.

In our clinical study, an extensive clinical and epidemiological characterisation of patients – during the acute and late phase of sepsis – is combined with an analysis of concomitant molecular changes. The study aims to evaluate, among other things, cardiovascular risk factors regarding their suitability as prognostic factors for the short and long-term survival of sepsis patients. Furthermore, molecular analyses are to identify potential biomarkers or theragnostic target structures in sepsis. The study also focuses on the importance of metabolites, in particular biologically active lipid mediators and their metabolic products, for the resolution and progression of organ failure in severe infections.

The clinical studies are supervised by our interdisciplinary team of physicians, doctoral students of medicine and a psychologist.
(from the right: Prof. Sina Coldewey, MD, PhD; Dipl.-Psych. Philipp Baumbach; Christiane Schmidt-Winter, MD; Jan Höfer;  Heike Dorow, MD; Charles Neu, MD; Alina Plooij, Kornel Skitek, Yalda Seyed Sadri, Ricardo Esper Treml)