Reply to Paleari et al. Free

We thank Dr Paleari et al. [1] for their interest in our work. CRP and IL-6 are relatively non-specific and represent only a small part of the complex pro- and anti-inflammatory response to surgery, and yes, the pre-existing insult of COPD (and other diseases) imposes an additional burden. Nonetheless, the data showed a prominent association of elevated CRP and IL-6 levels to identify high-risk patients and we doubt that this is an epiphenomenon. We welcome Dr Paleari and colleagues’ suggestion to find an ‘accurate and diagnostic test for sepsis, etc.’ but sepsis was not the focus of our paper.

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