Postnatal SNAP-II scores in neonatal intensive care unit patients: relationship to sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, and death.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if daily SNAP-II scores (Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology) after the first day are useful in identifying neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients who die or develop sepsis or necrotizing enterocolitis.


METHODS
Prospective data were collected on all 141 admissions to a university level III NICU over 4 months. SNAPPE-II scores were calculated from the day of admission and SNAP-II scores from subsequent hospital days. The scores were compared between those who developed events and those who did not.


RESULTS
At least 64% of the daily SNAP-II scores on the day of and the preceding 4 days from the event were 0. Admission SNAPPE-II scores correlated with length of stay (r = 0.44, p < 0.01) but patient average SNAP-II did not (r = 0.02, p > 0.5).


CONCLUSIONS
SNAP-II scores from after the first day of life did not accurately assess or predict neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298-0276, USA.
Lilian
L
Lim
Henry J
HJ
Rozycki
D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis