Scoring Systems for Outcome Prediction in a Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit: A Comparative Study.

Background: Most scoring systems used to predict clinical outcome in critical care were not designed for application in cardiac surgery patients.

Objectives: To compare the predictive ability of the most widely used scoring systems (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation [APACHE] II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score [SAPS] II, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA]) and of 2 specialized systems (European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation [EuroSCORE] II and the cardiac surgery score [CASUS]) for clinical outcome in patients after cardiac surgery.

Methods: Consecutive patients admitted to a cardiac surgical intensive care unit (CSICU) were prospectively studied.