title: The Sepsis in Obstetrics Score: a model to identify risk of morbidity from sepsis in pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to design an emergency department sepsis scoring system to identify risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission in pregnant and postpartum women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Sepsis in Obstetrics Score (S.O.S.) was created by modifying validated scoring systems in accordance with recognized physiologic changes of pregnancy. The S.O.S. was applied to a retrospective cohort of pregnant and postpartum patients from February 2009 through May 2011 with clinical suspicion of sepsis. The primary outcome was ICU admission. Secondary outcomes were telemetry unit admission, length of stay, positive blood cultures, positive influenza swabs, perinatal outcome, and maternal mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to estimate the optimal score for identification of risk of ICU admission.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all, 850 eligible women were included. There were 9 ICU (1.1%) and 32 telemetry (3.8%) admissions, and no maternal deaths. The S.O.S. had an area under the curve of 0.97 for ICU admission. An S.O.S. ≥6 (maximum score 28) had an area under the curve of 0.92 with sensitivity of 88.9%, specificity of 95.2%, positive predictive value of 16.7%, and negative predictive value of 99.9% for ICU admission, with an adjusted odds ratio of 109 (95% confidence interval, 18-661). An S.O.S. ≥6 was independently associated with increased ICU or telemetry unit admissions, positive blood cultures, and fetal tachycardia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A sepsis scoring system designed specifically for an obstetric population appears to reliably identify patients at high risk for admission to the ICU. Prospective validation is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI. Electronic address: calbright@wihri.org.
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Albright
authors.affiliation: Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Tariq N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Division of Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Vrishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Dwight J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Rouse
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI.
authors.forename: Brenna L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D016015:Logistic Models; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: disease severity score; intensive care unit; pregnancy; sepsis