We thank Dr. Barie and his colleagues for their interest in our data.1 It is satisfying to note that other investigators also have had a similar experience regarding the influence of nonpulmonary organ dysfunction and failure on outcome in patients with respiratory failure. Contrary to our findings, they have reported2 that hepatic dysfunction had a significant influence of patient mortality in...

INTRODUCTION The incidence and outcome of acute respiratory failure (ARF) depend on dysfunction in other organs. As a result, reported mortality in patients with ARF is derived from a mixed group of patients with different degrees of multiorgan failure. The main goal of the present study was to investigate patient outcome in single organ ARF. PATIENTS AND METHOD From 1 January 2000 to 1 July ...

INTRODUCTION Identification of risk factors for diminished cortisol response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) in the critically ill could facilitate recognition of relative adrenal insufficiency in these patients. Therefore, we studied predictors of a low cortisol response to ACTH. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a general intensive care unit of a university hospit...

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a critical condition that may lead to organ failure and early death. The aim of this retrospective observational study was to describe a cohort of HLH patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) and investigate the risk factors of early death. A positive HLH diagnosis was defined by an HScore 169. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried o...

There are several well recognized scoring systems for evaluation and prognostication of critically ill patients. While the APACHE II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II) scoring system uses a point score based on physiologic parameters, age and previous health status, the SOFA (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) scoring system takes into account the organ failure in critically ...

Sepsis is a syndrome consisting of physiological, pathological and biochemical anomalies caused by infectious agents. It causes clinical organ dysfunction, which identified an acute increase in the Sequential (sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score two or more points. SOFA three components that can be easily used at bedside to track status patient while on admission, these are al...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to compare the discriminant function of multiple organ dysfunction score (MODS) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) components in predicting the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) mortality and neurologic outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive-analytic study was conducted at a level I trauma center. Data were collected from patients with severe traum...