title: Prognostic use of lactate to predict inpatient mortality in acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) is a common complaint seen in the emergency department (ED) and carries a small but significant mortality rate. The principal purpose of this investigation was to determine whether an ED venous lactate as part of initial laboratory studies is predictive of mortality in patients admitted to the hospital for GIH.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study for 6 years at an urban tertiary referral hospital included all ED patients with the charted diagnosis of acute GIH. Serum lactate was drawn at the bedside as part of patient care after arrival to the ED at the discretion of the clinical team. Clinical parameters and inpatient mortality were collected from the medical record. Optimal cut points for lactate were derived using receiver operating characteristics curves and imputed into a multivariable logistic regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 2834 medical records that had GIH diagnoses, 1644 had an ED lactate recorded. A lactate greater than 4 mmol/L conferred a 6.4-fold increased odds of in-hospital mortality (94% specificity, P < .001). Controlling for age, initial hematocrit, and heart rate, every 1-point increase in lactate conferred a 1.4-fold increase in the odds of mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated initial lactate drawn in the ED can be associated with in-hospital mortality for ED patients with acute GIH. Prospective validation studies are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Amish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Division of Emergency Medicine, Columbia-NY Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. Electronic address: m.chisolmstraker@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Makini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chisolm-Straker
authors.affiliation: ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Aeri
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rattu
authors.affiliation: ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dikdan
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Toxicology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Elmhurst Hospital Center, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Alex F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Manini
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid