Table 4. PPSS and its correlation with treatment selection and post-treatment outcomes.

	PPSS (n= 12)		p
Variable	Intermediate risk (2, 5) (2, 16.7%)	High risk (>5) (10, 83.3%)
Time of presentation <24 hours >24 hours	1 (50%) 1 (50%)	1 (10%) 9 (90%)	0.165
Primary intervention(s) Surgery ± other interventions Endoscopic alone Radiological alone Endoscopic & Radiological	0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (100%) 0 (0%)	7 (70%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3 (30%)	-
Re-intervention requirement3 Yes No	1 (50%) 1 (50%)	4 (40%) 6 (60%)	-
Post-procedure morbidityb Yes No	1 (50%) 1 (50%)	7 (70%) 3 (30%)	0.583
Need for ICU stay Yes No	2 (100%) 0 (0%)	8 (80%) 2 (20%)	0.488
Median LoHS, days	24.5	26	-
Mortality 90-day In-hospital	0% (0%) 0% (0%)	0 (0%) 1 (10%)	-
PPSS: Pittsburgh severity score, ICU: Intensive care unit, LoHS: Length of hospital stay. a: Includes the patient in whom a re-intervention was warranted (stenting for persistent esophago-pleural fistula) but refused. b: Post-procedure morbidity includes re-interventions also. PPSS was calculated by assigning points to each clinical variable to a total score of 18 and three patient risk categories were identified (low risk <2, intermediate risk 2-5, high risk >5): 1 = age >75 years, heart rate >100 beats per minute, white cell count >10 x 109/mL, pleural effusion; 2= fever (>38.5 °C), uncontained leak (radio­logical studies), respiratory compromise (respiratory rate >30 per minute, need for increasing oxygen or mechanical ventilation), time of diagnosis >24 h; 3= oesoph­ageal cancer, hypotension (17,18).