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The association between regional economic status and the probability of renal recovery among patients with dialysis-requiring AKI (AKI-D) is unknown. The nationwide prospective multicenter study enrolled critically ill adult patients with AKI-D in four sampled months (October 2014, along with January, April, and July 2015) in Taiwan. The regional economic status was defined by annual disposable income per capita (ADIPC) of the cities the hospitals located. Among the 1,322 enrolled patients (67.1 ± 15.5 years, 36.2% female), 833 patients (63.1%) died, and 306 (23.1%) experienced renal recovery within 90 days following discharge. We categorized all patients into high (n = 992) and low economic status groups (n = 330) by the best cut-point of ADIPC determined by the generalized additive model plot. By using the Fine and Gray competing risk regression model with mortality as a competing risk factor, we found that the independent association between regional economic status and renal recovery persisted from model 1 (no adjustment), model 2 (adjustment to basic variables), to model 3 (adjustment to basic and clinical variables; subdistribution hazard ratio, 1.422; 95% confidence interval, 1.022-1.977; p = 0.037). In conclusion, high regional economic status was an independent factor for renal recovery among critically ill patients with AKI-D.

Anemia is a component of the pathological triangle in cardiorenal anemia syndrome and is a risk factor for mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome. This study assessed the predictive value of anemia for outcomes in critically ill patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. This retrospective study analyzed patients who received ECMO support at the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit in the study institute between July 2003 and March 2012. Patient data, such as demographic information, etiologies of ECMO implementation, clinical parameters, and in-hospital and 6-month mortality rates, were statistically analyzed. The overall in-hospital mortality rate among the enrolled 295 patients was 55.6%. Multivariate logistical regression analysis indicated that age, albumin levels, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and hemoglobin (Hb) level on ECMO day 1 exhibited independent prognostic significance for predicting in-hospital mortality rate. The SOFA score exhibited the highest areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve value (0.812 ± 0.025). The Hb level on ECMO day 1 exhibited satisfactory calibration and discriminatory power. The cumulative 6-month survival rates differed significantly between patients with Hb levels less than and more than 8.85 g/dL (30.6 vs. 54.0%, respectively, P < 0.001). This study indicated that old age, low albumin levels, low Hb levels, and higher SOFA scores on ECMO day 1 increased the risk of mortality. The Hb level is a readily measurable parameter and with good predictive power for critical patients on ECMO., (© 2018 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Cirrhotic patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) have high mortality rates. The present study compared the characteristics and outcomes of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU with and without cirrhosis using the matched Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III (APACHE III) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores., Methods: A retrospective case-control study was performed at the medical ICU of a tertiary-care hospital between January 2006 and December 2009. Patients were admitted with life-threatening complications and were matched for APACHE III and SOFA scores. Of 336 patients enrolled in the study, 87 in the cirrhosis or noncirrhosis group were matched according to the APACHE III scores. Another 55 patients with cirrhosis were matched to the 55 patients without cirrhosis according to the SOFA scores. Demographic data, aetiology of ICU admission, and laboratory variables were also evaluated., Results: The overall hospital mortality rate in the patients with cirrhosis in the APACHE III-matched group was more than that in their counterparts (73.6% vs 57.5%, P = .026) but the rate did not differ significantly in the SOFA-matched group (61.8% vs 67.3%). In the APACHE III-matched group, the SOFA scores of patients with cirrhosis were significantly higher than those of patients without cirrhosis (P < .001), whereas the difference in APACHE III scores was nonsignificant between the SOFA-matched patients with and without cirrhosis., Conclusions: Score-matched analytical data showed that the SOFA scores significantly differentiated the patients admitted to the ICU with cirrhosis from those without cirrhosis in APACHE III-matched groups, whereas difference in the APACHE III scores between the patients with and without cirrhosis were nonsignificant in the SOFA-matched group.

Objectives: Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency can adversely influence the prognosis of critically ill patients. However, its impact on the outcomes of patients with cirrhosis and acute gastroesophageal variceal bleeding remains unknown. We evaluated adrenal function using short corticotropin stimulation test in patients with cirrhosis and gastroesophageal variceal bleeding. The main outcomes analyzed were 5-day treatment failure and 6-week mortality., Design: Prospective observational study., Setting: Ten-bed gastroenterology-specific medical ICU at a 3,613-bed university teaching hospital in Taiwan., Patients: Patients with liver cirrhosis and acute gastroesophageal variceal bleeding., Interventions: None., Measurements and Main Results: We evaluated adrenal function using short corticotropin stimulation test in 157 episodes of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding in 143 patients with cirrhosis. Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency occurred in 29.9% of patients. The patients with critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency had higher rates of treatment failure and 6-week mortality (63.8% vs 10.9%, 42.6% vs 6.4%, respectively; p < 0.001). The cumulative rates of survival at 6 weeks were 57.4% and 93.6% for the critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency group and normal adrenal function group, respectively (p < 0.001). The cortisol response to corticotropin was inversely correlated with Model for End-Stage Liver Disease and Child-Pugh scores and positively correlated with the levels of high-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol. Hypovolemic shock, high-density lipoprotein, platelet count, and bacterial infection at inclusion are independent factors predicting critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency, whereas critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, hypovolemic shock, hepatocellular carcinoma, and active bleeding at endoscopy are independent factors to predict treatment failure. Multivariate analysis also identified Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, hypovolemic shock, and bacterial infection at inclusion as independent factors associated with 6-week mortality., Conclusions: Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency is common in cirrhotic patients with acute gastroesophageal variceal bleeding and is an independent factor to predict 5-day treatment failure.

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious complication in intensive care unit (ICU) patients and also often part of a multiple organ failure syndrome. The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score is an excellent tool for assessing the extent of organ dysfunction in critically ill patients. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome prediction ability of SOFA and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) III score in ICU patients with AKI., Methods: A total of 543 critically ill patients were admitted to the medical ICU of a tertiary-care hospital from July 2007 to June 2008. Demographic, clinical and laboratory variables were prospectively recorded for post hoc analysis as predictors of survival on the first day of ICU admission., Results: One hundred and eighty-seven (34.4%) patients presented with AKI on the first day of ICU admission based on the risk of renal failure, injury to kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function, and end-stage renal failure (RIFLE) classification. Major causes of the ICU admissions involved respiratory failure (58%). Overall in-ICU mortality was 37.9% and the hospital mortality was 44.7%. The predictive accuracy for ICU mortality of SOFA (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves: 0.815±0.032) was as good as APACHE III in the AKI group. However, cumulative survival rates at 6-month follow-up following hospital discharge differed significantly (p<0.001) for SOFA score ≤10 vs. ≥11 in these ICU patients with AKI., Conclusions: For patients coexisting with AKI admitted to ICU, this work recommends application of SOFA by physicians to assess ICU mortality because of its practicality and low cost. A SOFA score of ≥ "11" on ICU day 1 should be considered an indicator of negative short-term outcome.

Background: Cirrhotic patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) show extremely high mortality rates. We have proposed the MBRS scoring system, which can be used for assessing patients on the day of admission to the ICU; this new system involves determination of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and bilirubin level and assessment of respiratory failure and sepsis. We had used this scoring system to analyze the prognosis of ICU cirrhotic patients with AKI in 2008, and the current study was an external validation of this scoring system., Methods: A total of 190 cirrhotic patients with AKI were admitted to the ICU between March 2008 and February 2011. We prospectively analyzed and recorded the data for 31 demographic parameters and some clinical characteristic variables on day 1 of admission to the ICU; these variables were considered as predictors of mortality., Results: The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 73.2% (139/190), and the 6-month mortality rate was 83.2% (158/190). Hepatitis B viral infection (43%) was observed to be the cause of liver disease in most of the patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the MBRS and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III (ACPACHE III) scores determined on the first day of admission to the ICU were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients. In the analysis of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves, the MBRS scores showed good discrimination (AUROC: 0.863±0.032, p<0.001) in predicting in-hospital mortality., Conclusion: On the basis of the results of this external validation, we conclude that the MBRS scoring system is a reproducible, simple, easy-to-apply evaluation tool that can increase the prediction accuracy of short-term prognosis in critically ill cirrhotic patients with AKI.

Cirrhotic patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have high mortality rates. This study evaluated specific predictors and scoring systems for hospital and 6-month mortality in critically ill cirrhotic patients. This investigation is a prospective clinical study performed in a 10-bed specialized hepatogastroenterology ICU in a tertiary care university hospital in Taiwan. Two hundred two consecutive cirrhotic patients admitted to the ICU during a 2-year period were enrolled in this study. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables recorded on the first day of ICU admission and scoring systems applied were prospectively recorded for post hoc analysis for predicting survival. The overall hospital mortality was 59.9%, and the 6-month mortality rate was 70.8%. The main causes of cirrhosis were hepatitis B (29%), hepatitis C (22%), and alcoholism (20%). The major cause of ICU admission was upper gastrointestinal bleeding (36%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) score at the 48th hour of ICU admission and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) as well as the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores on the first day of ICU admission were independent risk factors for hospital mortality. The SOFA score had the best discriminatory power (0.872 ± 0.036), whereas the AKIN had the best Youden index (0.57) and the highest correctness of prediction (79%). Cumulative survival rates at the 6-month follow-up after hospital discharge differed significantly (P < 0.05) for AKIN stage 0 vs. stages 1, 2, and 3, and for AKIN stage 1 vs. stage 3. The AKIN, SOFA, and Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores showed well discriminative power in predicting hospital mortality in this group of patients. The AKIN scoring system proved to be a reproducible evaluation tool with excellent prognostic abilities for these patients.

Severe sepsis and septic shock, often complicated by acute kidney injury (AKI), are the most common causes of mortality in noncoronary intensive care units (ICUs). This study investigates the outcomes of critically ill patients with sepsis and elucidates the association between prognosis and risk of renal failure, injury to the kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function, and end-stage renal failure (RIFLE) classification. A total of 121 sepsis patients were admitted to ICU from June 2003 to January 2004. Forty-seven demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables were prospectively recorded for post hoc analysis as predictors of survival on the first day of ICU admission. Overall in-hospital mortality rate was 47.9%. Mortality was significantly associated (chi-square for trend; P < 0.001) with RIFLE classification. Septic shock, RIFLE category, and number of organ system failures on the first day of ICU admission were independent predictors of hospital mortality according to forward conditional logistic regression. The severity of RIFLE classification correlated with organ system failure number and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II to IV and sequential organ failure assessment scores. Cumulative survival rates at 6-month follow-up after hospital discharge significantly (P < 0.05) differed between non-AKI versus RIFLE injury, non-AKI versus RIFLE failure (RIFLE-F), and RIFLE risk versus RIFLE F. At 6-month follow-up, full recovery of renal function was noted in 85% of surviving patients with AKI (RIFLE risk, RIFLE injury, and RIFLE-F). In conclusion, these findings are consistent with a role for RIFLE classification in accurately predicting in-hospital mortality and short-term prognosis in ICU sepsis patients.

Background: End-stage liver disease is often complicated by renal function disturbances. Cirrhotic patients with acute renal failure admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have high mortality rates. This work seeks to identify specific predictors of hospital mortality in critically ill cirrhotic patients with acute renal failure., Methods: A total of 111 patients with cirrhosis and acute renal failure were admitted to ICU from March 2003 to February 2005. Twenty-six demographic, clinical and laboratory variables were prospectively gathered as predictors of survival on the first day of ICU admission., Results: The overall hospital mortality rate was 81.1%. The univariate analysis identified 11 of the 32 variables as prognostically valuable. The multiple logistic regression analysis (excluding five scoring systems) indicates that the mean arterial pressure (MAP), serum bilirubin, respiratory failure and sepsis on the first day in ICU are significantly related to prognosis. The best Youden index (sensitivity + specificity - 1) yields cutoff points of 80 MAP (in mmHg) and 80 serum bilirubin (in micromol/L) (or 4.7 mg/dL) and indicates acute respiratory failure and sepsis. A simple model for mortality is developed on the basis of these four readily available parameters on Day 1 of ICU admission. The new score (MBRS score: MAP + bilirubin + respiratory failure + sepsis) displays an excellent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.898 +/- 0.031, P < 0.001). The mortality rate exceeds 90% when the MBRS (MAP + bilirubin + respiratory failure + sepsis) score is 2 or higher., Conclusion: The MBRS score is a straightforward, reproducible and easily adopted evaluative tool with good prognostic abilities, which generates objective data for patient families and physicians and supplements a clinical judgment of prognosis.

Objective: End-stage liver disease is frequently complicated by renal function disturbances. Cirrhotic patients with renal failure admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have high mortality rates. This study analyzed the outcomes of critically ill cirrhotic patients and identified the association between prognosis and RIFLE (risk of renal failure, injury to kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function, and end-stage renal failure) classification, in comparison with other five scoring systems., Design: Prospective, clinical study., Setting: Ten-bed specialized hepatogastroenterology ICU in a university hospital in Taiwan., Patients and Participants: One hundred and thirty-four cirrhotic patients consecutively admitted to ICU during a 1.5-year period., Interventions: Thirty-two demographic, clinical and laboratory variables were analyzed as predictors of survival., Measurements and Main Results: Overall hospital mortality was 65.7%. There was a progressive and significant increase (chi2 for trend: p<0.001) in mortality based on RIFLE classification severity. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that RIFLE classification and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score on the first day of ICU admission were independent risk factors for hospital mortality. By using the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), the RIFLE category and SOFA both indicated a good discriminative power (AUROC 0.837+/-0.036 and 0.917+/-0.025; p<0.001). Cumulative survival rates at 6-month follow-up differed significantly (p<0.05) for non-ARF vs. RIFLE-R, RIFLE-I, and RIFLE-F., Conclusion: Both SOFA and RIFLE category showed high discriminative power in predicting hospital mortality in critically ill patients with cirrhosis. The RIFLE classification is a simple and easily applied evaluative tool with good prognostic abilities.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used in critical conditions such as life-threatening respiratory failure or postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock. This investigation compares the predictive value of Acute Physiology, Age and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE IV), earlier APACHE models, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), and the risk of renal failure, injury to the kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function, and end-stage renal failure (RIFLE) classification obtained on the first day of ECMO support for hospital mortality in critically ill patients., Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 78 critically ill patients on ECMO support at the specialized intensive care unit in a tertiary care university hospital from March 2002 to October 2005. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables and five scoring systems were retrospectively gathered as predicators of survival on ECMO day 1., Results: The overall mortality rate was 60.3%. The most common condition requiring ECMO was cardiogenic shock. Goodness-of-fit was good for APACHE IV but not the APACHE III model. The APACHE IV and APACHE III scoring systems displayed excellent areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.922 +/- 0.030 and 0.907 +/- 0.038, respectively). Furthermore, APACHE IV correlated significantly with APACHE III scores in individual patients (r2 = 0.902; p < 0.001). Finally, cumulative survival rates at 6-month follow-up after hospital discharge differed significantly (p < 0.001 for APACHE IV < or = 49% versus APACHE IV > 49%)., Conclusions: This study confirms the grave prognosis of critically ill patients receiving ECMO support. The APACHE IV proved to be a reproducible evaluation tool with excellent prognostic abilities in these patients.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been utilized for critically ill patients, such as those with post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock or life-threatening respiratory failure. Acute renal failure following ECMO support has an extremely elevated mortality rate. This study examined the outcomes of patients treated with ECMO and characterized the association between mortality and RIFLE (risk of renal failure, injury to the kidney, failure of kidney function, loss of kidney function and end-stage renal failure) classification., Methods: This retrospective study analysed the medical records of 46 critically ill patients-most had post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock-treated by ECMO. Sixteen patients (34.8%) were treated with both ECMO and continuous renal replacement therapies., Results: The overall mortality rate was 65.2% (30/46). A progressive and significant increase (chi(2) for trend, P < 0.001) was observed for mortality based on RIFLE classification severity. The Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test demonstrated that the RIFLE category has a good fit. By applying the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), the RIFLE classification tool had good discriminative power (AUROC 0.868 +/- 0.068, P < 0.001). Cumulative survival rates at 6 months follow-up following hospital discharge differed significantly (P < 0.05) for non-ARF vs RIFLE-I and RIFLE-F, and RIFLE-R vs RIFLE-F., Conclusion: This investigation confirms that the prognosis for critically ill patients supported by ECMO is grave. The RIFLE category is a simple, reproducible and easily applied evaluation tool with good prognostic capability that might generate objective information for patient families and physicians and supplements the clinical judgment of prognosis.

Cirrhotic patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) are associated with high mortality rates. The prognosis of critically ill cirrhotic patients is determined by the extent of hepatic and extrahepatic organ dysfunction. This study was conducted to assess and compare the accuracy of the Child-Pugh classification and APACHE II scores, obtained on the first day of ICU admission, in predicting hospital mortality in critically ill cirrhotic patients. One hundred thirty-five patients diagnosed with liver cirrhosis were admitted to the medical ICU between January 2002 and March 2003. Information considered necessary to compute the Child-Pugh and APACHE II scores on the first day of ICU admission was prospectively collected. The overall hospital mortality rate was 66.6%. Liver disease was most commonly attributed to hepatitis B viral infection. The APACHE II scores demonstrate a good fit using the Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. Furthermore, by using the areas under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve, the APACHE II scores demonstrated a better discriminative power (AUROC 0.833 +/- 0.039) than Child-Pugh scores (AUROC 0.75 +/- 0.05) (P=.024). This investigation confirms the grave prognosis for the cirrhotic patients admitted to the ICU. While both Child-Pugh and the APACHE II scores can satisfactorily predict the outcomes for critically ill cirrhotic patients, APACHE II is more powerful in discriminating the survivors from the nonsurvivors.