Table 1.
Characteristics of 325 patients with presumed sepsis at ICU admission
| Variables | Study population (n = 325) |
|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |
| Sex (male) | 186 (57%) |
| Age (years) | 63 (52–72) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 45 (14%) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 65 (20%) |
| Solid or hematologic malignancy | 84 (26%) |
| Chronic renal insufficiency | 46 (14%) |
| Charlson comorbidity index | 1 (0–2) |
| Immune deficiency | 57 (18%) |
| Admission characteristics | |
| Recent surgery | 62 (19%) |
| Prior ICU admission | 55 (17%) |
| APACHE-IV score | 85 (68–109) |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L)a | 212 (95–305) |
| White blood cell count (109/L)a | 16 (10–21) |
| Septic shock | 164 (50%) |
| SOFA-score on day 1 | 9 (7–11) |
| Length of stay in ICU | 5 (3–13) |
| Mortality after 30 days | 107 (33%) |
| Infection characteristics | |
| Community-acquired onset | 188 (58%) |
| Presumed source: | |
| - Lower respiratory tract | 152 (47%) |
| - Abdomen | 79 (24%) |
| - Urinary tract | 24 (7%) |
| - Other | 61 (19%) |
| - Unknown | 9 (3%) |
| Post hoc plausibility of infection:b | |
| - Definite | 127 (39%) |
| - Probable | 83 (26%) |
| - Uncertain | 88 (27%) |
| - Ruled out | 27 (8%) |
APACHE Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation, ICU intensive care unit, LOS length of stay, SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment. Data are presented as frequencies (%) or medians (Q1–Q3)
aMissing data: C-reactive protein n = 106 (33%), and white blood cell count n = 3 (2%)
bBased on post hoc assessment of plausibility of infection by trained physicians based on all clinical information as described elsewhere [11]