K. Lewandowski et al., INCIDENCE, SEVERITY, AND MORTALITY OF ACUTE RESPIRATORY-FAILURE IN BERLIN, GERMANY, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 151(4), 1995, pp. 1121-1125
Citations number
27
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care","Respiratory System
A prospective multicenter study was carried out from October 1 to Nove
mber 30, 1991, to determine the incidence, severity, and mortality of
acute respiratory failure (ARF) in Berlin, Germany, a metropolis with
a population of 3.44 million. Adult patients from 72 intensive care un
its (ICUs) were evaluated. ARF was defined as: (1) intubation and mech
anical ventilation (I + MV) greater than or equal to 24 h; (2) age gre
ater than or equal to 14 yr. Incidence of ARF was assessed as the numb
er of patients fulfilling ARF criteria within the 2-mo study period. S
everity of ARF was defined as ''no lung injury'' (NLI), ''mild-to-mode
rate lung injury'' (MMLI), and ''severe lung injury'' (SLI) according
to Murray and coworkers' proposals. Mortality was assessed as number o
f patients with ARF dying during ICU stay. During the study period, 50
8 patients were diagnosed as having ARF, representing an incidence of
ARF of 88.6 per 100,000/yr. Twenty-four h after I + MV, MMLI occurred
in 94% and SLI in 3.6% of the ARF patients. Overall mortality rate was
42.7%. Mortality rate in the NLI group was 36.4%; in patients with MM
LI, 40.8%; and in patients with SLI, 58.8%. Our data offer novel infor
mation on incidence, severity, and mortality of ARF in a major urban p
opulation.