Cardiac Dysfunction in Patients with Sepsis, Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock

Aims: Patients with severe sepsis and septic shock often exhibit significant cardiovascular dysfunction. We designed the study with an aim to determine the severity of cardiac dysfunction in the different group of sepsis patients.
Study Design: Single-center, cross-sectional study
Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Department of Cardiology, Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal from June 2011 to December 2012.
Methodology: A total of 74 patients who were diagnosed with sepsis were enrolled in the study. All patients were subjected to routine analysis, laboratory test and echocardiogrphic assessment.
Results: The patients were divided into 3 groups: sepsis group (n = 11), severe sepsis group (n = 37) and septic shock group (n = 26). The mitral E/A value is significantly higher in patients with septic shock than that of the patients with sepsis (P = 0.04). The indices of right ventricular dysfunction did not show any significant difference in the patients with septic shock and that of sepsis.
Conclusion: Left ventricular dysfunction may be considered prevalent in sepsis as per the significant E/A values. However, the other echocardiographic parameter should also be considered. This may even infer that cardiac dysfunction may not correlate with the severity of sepsis.