Table 2.
Differences in clinical manifestations according to nutritional status
| Patient demographics | Hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin <3.0 g/dL, n=62) | Normoalbuminemia (serum albumin ≥3.0 g/dL, n=73) | P-valuea) | Underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2, n=17) | Normal-to-overweight (BMI ≥18.5 kg/m2, n=118) | P-valuea) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yr) | 67.8±13.3 | 56.1±15.8 | <0.001b) | 59.6±20.2 | 61.7±15.1 | 0.612 |
| CCI >1 | 37 (59.7) | 36 (49.3) | 0.229 | 8 (47.1) | 65 (55.1) | 0.535 |
| Clinical & laboratory findings on initial presentation | ||||||
| Simultaneous mediastinitis | 13 (21.0) | 6 (8.2) | 0.034b) | 4 (23.5) | 15 (12.7) | 0.261 |
| Necrotizing fasciitis | 8 (12.9) | 1 (1.4) | 0.012b) | 0 | 9 (7.6) | 0.602 |
| Bilateral involvement | 17 (27.4) | 13 (17.8) | 0.181 | 4 (23.5) | 26 (22.0) | 1.000 |
| Extended to >1 cervical level | 45 (72.6) | 40 (54.8) | 0.033b) | 10 (58.8) | 75 (63.6) | 0.705 |
| WBC (×106/L) | 10,600.3±7,550.6 | 9,164.5±6,872.5 | 0.445 | 12,727.2±4,784.0 | 11,943.8±4,402.0 | 0.499 |
| CRP (mg/dL) | 22.4±9.8 | 17.4±8.8 | 0.002b) | 18.5±11.4 | 19.9±9.3 | 0.578 |
| Clinical outcome and response to the treatment | ||||||
| Length of hospitalization (day) | 25.0±14.6 | 14.6±10.9 | <0.001b) | 21.1±18.7 | 19.1±12.1 | 0.584 |
| No. of surgical drainage | 1.8±1.2 | 1.6±0.8 | 0.248 | 1.8±0.9 | 1.7±1.0 | 0.716 |
| No. of dead patients | 4 (6.5) | 7 (9.6) | 0.548 | 1 (5.9) | 10 (8.5) | 1.000 |
| 1-Week follow-up CRP (mg/dL) | 7.2±5.2 | 4.4±4.6 | 0.001b) | 6.3±6.2 | 5.6±4.9 | 0.547 |
| Time interval for 50% decrease of initial CRP (day) | 6.4±4.2 | 5.0±3.0 | 0.029b) | 6.1±3.9 | 5.5±3.6 | 0.669b) |
Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).
BMI, body mass index; CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; WBC, white blood cell; CRP, C-reactive protein.
a)
Values for or proportion of patients in each clinical factor between the two groups (hypoalbuminemia vs. normoalbuminemia group and underweight vs. normal-to-overweight group) upon initial presentation were compared using Student t-test, chi-squared test, and Fisher exact test.
b)
P-value <0.05.