Biomarkers in organ failure

SummaryBiomarkers are quantifiable indicators of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention. They have been recently introduced into clinical practice as a means for risk assessment, screening, diagnosis, staging, and prognosis. Some of them (cardiac and kidney biomarkers) have already found a precise role as the leading actor and actress in clinical medicine while others (pulmonary biomarkers) are still under evaluation in the different settings. Together with their invaluable properties, biomarkers have some important characteristics that should never be underestimated. A single biomarker rarely seems to have all the characteristics required to meet the clinical needs for a complete organ failure assessment, every biomarker seems to show different behaviour in different kinds of diseases, and several confounding factors have to be considered when interpreting biomarkers used for clinical assessment. The research on biomarkers is running fast and it is likely that a panel of biomarkers may be the best approach for achieving a complete patient assessment together with an adequate clinical evaluation and monitoring.