title: Gone fishing in a fluid trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To maximise the yield of existing data by assessing the effect on mortality of being born under the zodiac sign Pisces in a trial of intravenous (IV) fluids.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective observational study, with no predefined hypothesis or statistical analysis plan, of 26 Scandinavian intensive care units between 2009 and 2011. Patients aged 18 years or older with severe sepsis and in need of fluid resuscitation, randomised in the Scandinavian Starch for Severe Sepsis/ Septic Shock (6S) trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-day mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included all 798 randomised patients in our study; 70 (9%) were born under the sign of Pisces. The primary outcome (death within 90 days after randomisation) occurred in 25 patients (35.7%) in the Pisces group, compared with 348 patients (48%) in the non-Pisces group (relative risk, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.54-1.03; one-sided P = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a multicentre randomised clinical trial of IV fluids, being born under the sign of Pisces was associated with a decreased risk of death. Our study shows that with convenient use of statistics and an enticing explanatory hypothesis, it is possible to achieve significant findings in post-hoc analyses of data from large trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. peter.buhl.hjortrup@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Hjortrup
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Nicolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haase
authors.affiliation: Copenhagen Trial Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jørn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wetterslev
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D001255:Astrology; D003422:Critical Care; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006895:Hydroxyethyl Starch Derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D006895:Hydroxyethyl Starch Derivatives