Table 2.
Comparison of patients according to mechanical ventilation requirement
| Characteristics | Ventilated (MV+) patients n = 40 |
Nonventilated (MV-) patients n = 21 |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, males/females | 23/17 | 10/11 | NS |
| Age, years | 56 ± 20 | 46 ± 19 | NS |
| SAPS II | 28.2 ± 18.6 | 14.1 ± 6.8 | 0.0052 |
| DSH, days | 5.9 ± 6.9 | 5.8 ± 5.1 | NS |
| Autonomic dysfunction, percentage | 60 | 14 | 0.0006 |
| Intensive care unit length of stay, days | 40.4 | 13.0 | 0.001 |
| EMG subtype, percentage of demyelinating type | 77 | 71 | NS |
| Infectious complications, percentage | 85 | 5 | 0.0001 |
| Median delay between immunotherapy and neurological improvement, days | 27 | 4 | 0.001 |
| Independent ambulation at follow-up, percentage | 50 | 58 | NS |
| Deaths, number (percentage) | 4 (10) | 0 (0) | - |
Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (median) unless otherwise stated. DSH, delay between onset of symptoms and hospital admission; EMG, electromyography; MV, mechanical ventilation; NS, not significant; SAPS II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II.