Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of adult severe sepsis patients with purpura fulminans, meningitis, or meningococcal disease
| Baseline characteristics1 | No PF, MEN, or MD n = 3,907 (816 PLC) | PF, MEN, or MD n = 189 (24 PLC) | PF n = 77 (5 PLC) | MEN n = 128 (21 PLC) | MD n = 92 (10 PLC) |
| Demographics and disease severity | |||||
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 60.3 ± 16.5 | 44.4 ± 19.6 | 34.6 ± 14.4 | 48.2 ± 20.4 | 34.9 ± 16.1 |
| Male (%) | 57.8 | 53.4 | 58.4 | 53.1 | 50.0 |
| Caucasian (%) | 86.8 | 91.0 | 92.2 | 91.4 | 89.1 |
| Organ dysfunctions, median; q1-q3 | 3.0; 2.0–3.0 | 2.0; 1.0–4.0 | 3.0; 2.0–4.0 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 | 2.0; 2.0–4.0 |
| First organ dysfunction to infusion (h), mean ± SD | 22.6 ± 13.0 | 18.3 ± 13.2 | 13.5 ± 11.8 | 18.5 ± 13.4 | 14.9 ± 11.3 |
| APACHE II score, mean ± SD | 23.2 ± 7.6 | 22.6 ± 8.1 | 22.3 ± 7.8 | 22.0 ± 7.9 | 21.9 ± 7.8 |
| GCS score, mean ± SD | 12.2 ± 3.8 | 10.3 ± 4.1 | 11.8 ± 3.8 | 9.8 ± 4.0 | 11.2 ± 4.1 |
| Underlying comorbidities | |||||
| Congestive cardiomyopathy (%) | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| COPD (%) | 19.4 | 3.1 | 0 | 4.0 | 1.3 |
| Diabetes (%) | 21.0 | 9.9 | 2.0 | 11.3 | 5.1 |
| Hypertension (%) | 36.7 | 18.0 | 6.1 | 20.2 | 7.7 |
| Liver disease (%) | 2.9 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Cancer (%) | 16.3 | 7.5 | 2.0 | 8.1 | 5.1 |
| Myocardial infarction (%) | 11.6 | 1.9 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 |
| Pancreatitis (%) | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Recent trauma (%) | 3.9 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Recent surgery (%) | 35.5 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Coagulation biomarkers | |||||
| Protein C level (%), median; q1-q3 | 46; 30–64 | 47; 30–67 | 30; 20–45 | 54; 38–74 | 40; 27–53 |
| Platelet count, median; q1-q3 | 172; 105–249 | 91; 45–142 | 59; 35–95 | 119; 65–159 | 70; 34–121 |
| APTT (s), median; q1-q3 | 41; 34–50 | 44; 35–55 | 48; 41–63 | 40; 34–49 | 48; 38–62 |
| PT (s), median; q1-q3 | 18; 15–21 | 17; 15–22 | 17; 14–23 | 17; 15–21 | 19; 16–23 |
| Cardiovascular and respiratory measures | |||||
| Vasopressor (%) | 69.6 | 60.1 | 76.6 | 47.2 | 72.5 |
| Ventilator (%) | 79.3 | 79.8 | 80.5 | 76.4 | 76.9 |
| Cardiovascular study entry criteria (%) | 78.8 | 68.3 | 77.6 | 64.5 | 79.5 |
| Respiratory study entry criteria (%) | 80.5 | 57.8 | 59.2 | 54.0 | 47.4 |
1Patients with missing data were excluded from this analysis. APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II; APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; MD, meningococcal disease; MEN, meningitis; PF, purpura fulminans; PLC, placebo; PT, prothrombin time.