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Sepsis & infection

Eight sepsis subgroups found, SENECA not replicated

Discovery of eight stable subgroups of sepsis in the emergency department with consensus clustering
Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine · Added 5 September 2026

Retrospective consensus clustering of 953 ED sepsis admissions at Oslo University Hospital could not replicate the four SENECA phenotypes, instead finding eight stable subgroups with more granular characteristics — and only 49% of patients meeting SENECA inclusion criteria fulfilled Sepsis-3, underlining sepsis heterogeneity and cohort-definition problems.

Study type

Cohort

Design

Retrospective consensus clustering cohort

Participants

953 adults with sepsis admitted to a single Oslo ED, 2019–2023

Main finding

The four SENECA phenotypes could not be replicated; eight stable subgroups with more granular characteristics were identified. Only 49% of patients meeting SENECA inclusion criteria fulfilled Sepsis-3 criteria.

Caveat

Retrospective, single-centre data

Bottom line

Hypothesis-generating

Learning goal

Understand how sepsis phenotype heterogeneity and differing case definitions affect recognition and risk stratification in my prehospital practice.

More

• Topic: Sepsis & infection
• Daily scan: 5 September 2026

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