Table 5.
Baseline characteristics of pediatric severe sepsis patients with purpura fulminans, meningitis, or meningococcal disease
| Baseline characteristics1 | No PF, MEN, or MD N = 143 | PF, MEN, or MD N = 121 | PF N = 87 | MEN N = 50 | MD N = 90 |
| Demographics and disease severity | |||||
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 6.8 ± 6.3 | 5.6 ± 5.8 | 6.1 ± 5.9 | 5.7 ± 6.2 | 5.9 ± 5.8 |
| Male (%) | 46.2 | 53.7 | 50.6 | 52.0 | 55.9 |
| Caucasian (%) | 63.6 | 86.8 | 90.8 | 80.0 | 92.2 |
| Organ dysfunctions, median; q1-q3 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 | 2.0; 1.0–3.0 |
| First organ dysfunction to infusion (h), mean ± SD | 22.3 ± 13.3 | 13.0 ± 10.0 | 13.2 ± 9.5 | 12.3 ± 9.1 | 13.0 ± 10.2 |
| Coagulation biomarkers | |||||
| Protein C level (%), median; q1-q3 | 38; 24–59 | 27; 19–38 | 29; 19–38 | 24; 16–41 | 26; 18–35 |
| Platelet count, median; q1-q3 | 115; 58–205 | 88; 51–142 | 85; 42–122 | 107; 67–178 | 87; 53–132 |
| APTT (s), median; q1-q3 | 46; 35–59 | 57; 41–79 | 57; 40–82 | 49; 40–70 | 57; 40–80 |
| PT (s), median; q1-q3 | 16; 14–21 | 20; 15–26 | 20; 16–26 | 17; 15–23 | 20; 16–25 |
| Cardiovascular and respiratory measures | |||||
| Vasopressor (%) | 70.8 | 87.4 | 90.0 | 81.6 | 87.5 |
| Ventilator (%) | 90.6 | 80.0 | 82.9 | 76.3 | 79.2 |
| Cardiovascular study entry criteria (%) | 82.5 | 93.5 | 97.3 | 90.9 | 96.2 |
| Respiratory study entry criteria (%) | 64.3 | 34.6 | 37.0 | 34.1 | 30.8 |
1Patients with missing data were excluded from this analysis. APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; MD, meningococcal disease; MEN, meningitis; PF, purpura fulminans; PT, prothrombin time.