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Minna Tallgren

Publications and source records attributed to Minna Tallgren.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Comparison of 2 acute renal failure severity scores to general scoring systems in the critically ill.

BACKGROUND: Several proposed definitions for acute renal failure (ARF) exist, but little is known of their significance in clinical practice. We evaluated the ability to predict hospital mortality in 2 ARF-specific severity-of-illness scoring methods, the Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End-Stage Renal Disease (RIFLE) score and the score presented by Bellomo et al in 2001. METHODS: The study included 668 consecutive patients with 694 treatment episodes treated in 2 intensive care units (ICUs) in a university hospital within 11 months. ARF prevalence was classified according to the RIFLE and Bellomo scores. As references, we evaluated 2 general severity-of-illness scoring systems, the admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores. RESULTS: Admission SOFA scores and maximum RIFLE scores for the first 3 days in the ICU were independent predictors of hospital mortality by means of forward conditional logistic regression. In receiver operating characteristic analysis, SOFA and APACHE II scores performed better than ARF-specific scores, and discriminative powers for hospital mortality were only moderate for the RIFLE and Bellomo scores: areas under the curve were 0.653 (95% confidence interval, 0.588 to 0.719) and 0.587 (95% confidence interval, 0.514 to 0.660), respectively. CONCLUSION: Neither of the ARF-specific scoring methods presented good discriminative power regarding hospital mortality. However, maximum RIFLE score for the first 3 days in the ICU was found to be an independent predictor of hospital mortality, along with admission SOFA score.

Acute Disease↗

Long-term survival, quality of life, and quality-adjusted life-years among critically ill elderly patients.

OBJECTIVES: To assess mortality, quality of life (QOL), and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for critically ill elderly patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: A ten-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in a tertiary care university hospital. PATIENTS: The study group included 882 elderly patients (> or =65 yrs of age) and 1,827 controls (<65 yrs of age) treated during the period of 1995 to 2000. INTERVENTION: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Mortality was assessed during the ICU and hospital stays, and 12, 24, and 36 months after ICU discharge. The cumulative 3-yr mortality rate among the elderly (57%) was higher (p < .05) than that among the controls (40%). The majority (66%) of the elderly nonsurvivors died within 1 month after intensive care discharge. All elderly patients with day-1 Sequential Organ Failure (SOFA) scores >15 died during the ICU stay. QOL was assessed with EQ-5D and RAND-36 measures from 10 months to 7 yrs after discharge. The majority (88%) of the elderly survivors assessed their present health state as good or satisfactory; 66% found it to be similar or better than 12 months earlier, and 48% similar or better than their preadmission state. QOL measures by RAND-36 revealed that aging decreased their competencies most in physical functioning, physical role limitations, and vitality, but the elderly had better values in mental health than the controls. However, QALYs of the elderly respondents were 21% to 35% lower than the mean QALY minus 2 sd units of the age- and gender-adjusted general population. CONCLUSIONS: High age alone is not a valid reason to refuse intensive care, but the benefits perceived by intensive care seem to decrease with aging, if reflected as QALYs. However, 97% of the elderly survivors lived at home and 88% of them considered their QOL satisfactory or good after hospital discharge. Therefore, more reliable information on the outcome for the elderly is clearly needed.

APACHE↗

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Journal Article↗

Survival and quality of life of patients requiring acute renal replacement therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess long-term survival and health-related quality of life in patients with acute renal failure. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional cohort study in the ten-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit and the three-bed acute dialysis unit in a tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: 703 patients receiving renal replacement therapy for acute renal failure during 1998-2002. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The mortality rate was 41% at 28 days, 57% at 1 year, and 70% at 5 years. SOFA score, age, and continuous renal replacement therapy were independent predictors of 1-year mortality. The median follow-up time was 3.9 years for mortality and 2.4 years for health-related quality of life. Of the 229 survivors in 2003, 153 (67%) responded to the health-related quality of life questionnaire. Health-related quality of life was evaluated with the EuroQol (EQ-5D) instrument including a visual analogue scale (VAS) score to evaluate the patient's perceived health. The EQ-5D score was significantly lower in the study population than in the age- and gender-matched Finnish population (0.68 vs. 0.86). Median VAS scores were 69.5 and 70.0, respectively. Patients' age and duration of follow-up had no significant effect on EQ-5D or VAS scores. Mortality and EQ-5D data were used to calculate quality-adjusted life years. Quality-adjusted survival was poor (15 quality-adjusted life years per 100 patients in the first year of follow-up). CONCLUSIONS: The long-term survival of patients with acute renal failure is poor. Although survivors have a low health-related quality of life, they are as satisfied with their health as the general population.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Hemodynamic variables related to outcome in septic shock.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of hemodynamic variables on the outcome of critically ill patients in septic shock and to identify the optimal threshold values related to outcome with special reference to continuously monitored mean arterial pressure (MAP) and mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO2). DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective cohort study in a university hospital intensive care unit (ICU). PATIENTS: All consecutive 111 patients with septic shock treated in our ICU between 1 Jan. 1999 and 30 Jan. 2002. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The data on the hemodynamic and respiratory monitoring and circulation-related laboratory tests over the first 48 h of treatment in the ICU were collected from the clinical data management system. Data from 6 h and 48 h were analyzed separately. The 30-day mortality rate was 33% (36 of 111). Univariate analysis and forward stepwise logistic regression analysis were performed using the 30-day mortality as the primary endpoint. Mean MAP and lactate on arrival during 6 h, while mean MAP, the area of SvO2 under 70%, and mean CVP during 48 h were independently associated with mortality. MAP level of 65 mmHg and SvO2 of 70% had the highest areas under receiver characteristics curves. CONCLUSIONS: MAP, SvO2, CVP, and initial lactate were independently associated with mortality in septic shock, with threshold values supporting those published in recent guidelines.

APACHE↗

Modified score for disseminated intravascular coagulation in the critically ill.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of the diagnosis of overt disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) according to the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) criteria and that of the parameters included in the ISTH score for overt DIC in predicting day 28 mortality in intensive care patients. Also, to assess the value of the components of the score in the diagnosis of overt DIC. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective clinical study in a university hospital intensive care unit. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: 494 consecutive patients admitted in the ICU between January 2002 and October 2003. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Clinical and laboratory data, including hemostatic parameters, were collected from computerized databases and patient files. Altogether 19% (95/494) of the patients fulfilled the criteria for overt DIC. Their day 28 mortality rate was higher than that of patients without overt DIC (40% vs. 16%). The lowest platelet count (area under curve, AUC, 0.910), highest plasma D-dimer (AUC 0.846), lowest antithrombin (AUC 0.823), and Owren-type prothrombin time activity (AUC 0.797) discriminated well the patients with and without overt DIC, whereas plasma fibrinogen (AUC 0.690) had poor discriminative power. No patient with the diagnosis of overt DIC had decreased plasma fibrinogen. Day-1 SOFA and APACHE II score, the first CRP measurement, and the lowest antithrombin were independent predictors of day 28 mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of overt DIC was not an independent predictor of day 28 mortality. In ICU patients plasma antithrombin seems a promising candidate in the panel of indicators for overt DIC whereas the value of plasma fibrinogen is in doubt.

APACHE↗