# Informing best practices for evaluation and treatment of myocardial injury during sepsis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2024 · $707,275

## Abstract

ABSTRACT / PROJECT SUMMARY
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition diagnosed when dysfunction of organs results from severe infection.
Sepsis affects approximately 1 million patients in the United States each year. About one-half of patients with
sepsis have evidence of injury to the heart muscle called ‘myocardial injury’. Multiple pathways can lead to
myocardial injury during sepsis. Even though patients with myocardial injury during sepsis have worse
outcomes, there is currently little information to inform the best approach to evaluate these patients, to inform
the likely pathways leading to myocardial injury in individual patients, or to guide the selection of optimal
treatments. We propose the “Informing best practices for evaluation and treatment of myocardial injury during
sepsis” study to provide clinically actionable information to benchmark and guide the care of patients with
myocardial injury in sepsis. We will use existing longitudinal electronic health record data from two large
integrated healthcare systems in the United States to efficiently determine the patterns of testing and treatment
and the factors that predict the patients most likely to respond to treatments for pathways involving coronary
artery disease. We will also assess the effectiveness of commonly used blood thinners for myocardial injury in
sepsis. We have assembled a team with a record of collaboration and expertise in the use of electronic health
record data to study sepsis outcomes, mechanisms and biomarkers of myocardial injury, and observational
research methodology. Results from our proposal will inform current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and
guide the design and conduct of future randomized trials investigating optimal clinical pathways for patients
with myocardial injury in sepsis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10916493
- **Project number:** 5R01HL169521-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Allan J. Walkey
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $707,275
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10916493

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10916493, Informing best practices for evaluation and treatment of myocardial injury during sepsis (5R01HL169521-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10916493. Licensed CC0.

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