title: Prognosis of mechanically ventilated patients.
abstract: In this Department of Veterans Affairs cooperative study, we examined predictors of in-hospital and 1-year mortality of 612 mechanically ventilated patients from 6 medical intensive care units in a retrospective cohort design. The outcome variable was vital status at hospital discharge and after 1 year. The results showed that 97% of patients were men, the mean age was 63 +/- 11 years (SD), and hospital mortality was 64% (95% confidence interval, 60% to 68%). Within the next year, an additional 38% of hospital survivors died, for a total 1-year mortality of 77% (95% confidence interval, 73% to 80%). Hospital and 1-year mortality, respectively, for patients older than 70 years was 76% and 94%, for those with serum albumin levels below 20 grams per liter it was 92% and 96%, for those with an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score greater than 35 it was 91% and 98%, and for patients who were being mechanically ventilated after cardiopulmonary resuscitation it was 86% and 90%. The mortality ratio (actual mortality versus APACHE II-predicted mortality) was 1.15. Conclusions are that patient age, APACHE II score, serum albumin levels, or the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation may identify a subset of mechanically ventilated veterans for whom mechanical ventilation provides little or no benefit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Papadakis
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Browner
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Matchar
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kagawa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hallenbeck
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Charles
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies