T‐lymphocyte subtyping: an early warning and a potential prognostic indicator of active cytomegalovirus infection in patients with sepsis

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is very common in patients suffering from sepsis and may cause poor prognosis. To explore the relationship between immune status of patients with sepsis and CMV infection, we assessed T lymphocyte subtyping and other commonly used clinical parameters in patients with sepsis upon admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and evaluated their potential impact on diagnosis and outcomes of active CMV infection. In our study, 82 of 599 patients with sepsis were diagnosed with active CMV infection. The 28‐day mortality was higher in active CMV–infected than nonactive CMV–infected patients (20.7% versus 9.9%); 51of 82 active CMV–infected patients with sepsis were assessed to have CMV‐DNA–negative conversion, while 31 were persistently positive for CMV DNA. Higher CD8(+)CD28(+) T‐cell counts at presentation were associated with CMV‐DNA–negative conversion and lower 28‐day mortality. The CMV‐DNA–negative conversion and 28‐day mortality of active CMV–infected patients with sepsis could be predicted using cutoff values of 151 (74.5% sensitivity and 87.1% specificity) and 64.5 (52.9% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity) CD8(+)CD28(+) T cells mL(−1) at ICU admission, respectively. Higher CD8(+)CD28(+) T‐cell count was significantly associated with active CMV infection, higher CMV‐DNA–negative conversion and lower 28‐day mortality, which may be a potential marker for early warning of active CMV infection and outcome prediction.