Changes in severity and organ failure scores as prognostic factors in onco-hematological malignancy patients admitted to the ICU.

Objective: To determine whether severity and organ failure scores over the first 3 days in an ICU predict in-hospital mortality in onco-hematological malignancy patients.

Design And Setting: Retrospective study in a 22-bed medical ICU.

Patients: 92 consecutive patients with onco-hematological malignancies including 20 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients (11 with allogenic HSCT).

Measurements: Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II, Organ Dysfunction and/or Infection (ODIN) score, Logistic Organ Dysfunction System (LODS), and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score were recorded on admission. The change in each score (Delta score) during the first 3 days in the ICU was calculated as follows: severity or organ failure score on day 3 minus severity or organ failure score on day 1, divided by severity or organ failure score on day 1.

Results: In-hospital mortality was 58%. Using multivariate analysis in-hospital mortality was predicted by all scores on day 1 and all Delta scores. Areas under the receiver operating characteristics curves were similar for SAPS II (0.78), ODIN (0.78), LODS (0.83), and SOFA (0.78) scores at day 1. They were also similar for DeltaSAPS II, DeltaODIN, DeltaLODS, and DeltaSOFA. Similar results were observed when excluding patients with allogenic HSCT.

Conclusion: Severity and three organ failure scores on day 1 and Delta scores perform similarly in predicting in-hospital mortality in ICU onco-hematological malignancy patients but do not predict individual outcome. Decision to admit such patients to the ICU or to forgo life-sustaining therapies should not be based on these scores.