title: Early application of generic mortality risk scores in presumed meningococcal disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Mortality from meningococcal disease typically occurs within 24 hrs of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. An early, accurate mortality-risk tool may aid in trial design for novel therapies. We assessed the performance of two generic scores that assign mortality risk within 1 hr of ICU admission: the Preintensive Care Pediatric Risk of Mortality (Pre-ICU PRISM) and Pediatric Index of Mortality (PIM).
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, observational study over 21 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two tertiary pediatric ICUs accepting referrals from southeast England.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were 165 consecutive children with meningococcal disease. Ages ranged from 0.1 to 17 yrs (median 2.3 yrs).
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PIM demonstrated greater sensibility, with complete data collected in 93% of cases, compared with 35% for the pre-ICU PRISM. Both scores discriminated well. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.90 (95% confidence interval, 0.81-1.00) for PIM and 0.94 (95% confidence interval, 0.88-0.98) for Pre-ICU PRISM; this did not change when applied to the subgroup of patients with complete data. Both scores calibrated poorly, overestimating mortality in the medium-risk strata (and also in the high-risk stratum in the case of Pre-ICU PRISM). When used as a stratification tool for a hypothetical trial (60% reduction in mortality, 80% power), the scores allowed for a reduction in study size by 50% (PIM) and 43% (pre-ICU PRISM).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-ICU PRISM and PIM both discriminate well but calibrate poorly when applied to a cohort of children with meningococcal sepsis. Both scores provide an effective means of stratification for clinical trial purposes. The main advantage for PIM appears to be ease of data collection.
authors.affiliation: Guys & St. Thomas Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marino S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Festa
authors.forename: Shane M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tibby
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Durward
authors.forename: Parviz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Habibi
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Murdoch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000592:standards*; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality*