Table 3.

Clinical data about hypoalbuminemics and normoalbuminemics

	Hypoalbuminemics	Normoalbuminemics	p value
	(N=50)	(N=12)
Survivor/non-survivor	10/40	5/7	0.142
Age (years)	63±16	62±19	0.064
Albumin (g/L)	1.8±0.4	3.0±0.4	<0.001
Baseline cortisol (µg/dL)	23[15-32]	22[15-332]	0.866
Baseline cortisol < 25 µ g/dL	30(60)	9 (75)	0.508
Baseline cortisol/albumin	13.3 [7.3-18.4]	7.8 [4.8-10.2]	0.011
Peak cortisol ( µ g/dL)	40±21	36±12	0.538
Cortisol increase ( µ g/dL)	14±13	13±7	0.781
Cortisol increase/albumin	8.2±6.9	4.7±2.5	0.08
Cortisol increase (%)	0.57±0.21	0.63±0.32	0.964
Admission APACHE II	22.3±7.8	21.4±6.8	0.754

APACHE - Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation. Hypoalbuminemia; albuminemia level <2.5 mg/dL. Data are expressed as the mean±standard deviation, median [percentiles 25-75%] or number (%), where appropriate, by the indicated statistical test.