Dysfunction in Other Organs Worsens Respiratory Failure Outcome

Researchers have found that the mortality rate of patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) increases with each additional organ failure. Their study was published in the July 9, 2003, issue of Critical Care.

ARF is the most common type of organ failure in the intensive care unit (ICU), and multiple organ failure is the most common cause of death in ICU patients. The study involving 529 patients found that the mortality rate of those with ARF alone was 3.2% at ICU discharge, 14.7% at hospital discharge, and 21.8% at 90 days. The failure of only one other vital organ increased these rates to 11.6%, 28.5%, and 43.6%, respectively. When ARF was accompanied by the failure of four or five vital organs, three-month mortality was as high as 75%.

"It is very important to have the whole patient in focus when treating ARF,” said Hans Flaatten, M.D., who conducted the study along with colleagues at the Haukeland University Hospital (Norway). "Other organ failure is frequent, and needs to be diagnosed and treated if the patient is to have the maximal chance of survival. It is also possible to estimate the chance of survival on the number of organs that have failed.”

Critical Care is published by BioMed Central an online publisher of biologic and medical research.




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