title: The ability of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) to predict outcome in coronary care patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the applicability of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) for coronary care patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective observational cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical ICU of a community teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  1587 consecutive patients admitted over a period of 18 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were divided in two groups according to the primary admission diagnosis: general medical intensive care (ICU) patients and intensive coronary care (CCU) patients. Score prediction was tested using criteria suitable to evaluate the discrimination and calibration properties of SAPS II. Mean SAPS II score was 31.6 (+/- 20.1) in ICU and 28.3 (+/- 15.5) in CCU patients (p = 0.06), mean risk of death 0.206 and 0.134 (p = 0.001), and observed hospital mortality 17.8 vs 10.3%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.888 in ICU and 0.908 in CCU patients (p = 0.5). The correlation between predicted and observed hospital mortality was 0.62 (p = 0.001) in ICU and 0.66 (p = 0.001) in CCU patients. The calibration curves did not differ from each other. The probability of death in survivors and nonsurvivors was equally distributed in ICU and CCU patients (p = 0.5).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that SAPS II is applicable to CCU patients in our unit.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik I, Städtisches Krankenhaus Hildesheim, Germany.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ritschel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilts
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Bodmann
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000368:Aged; D003325:Coronary Care Units; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000145:classification* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome