Research article
Mortality among patients with tuberculosis requiring intensive care: a retrospective cohort study
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* Corresponding author: Denise R Silva denise.rossato@terra.com.br
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS); Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
BMC Infectious Diseases 2010, 10:54 doi:10.1186/1471-2334-10-54
Published: 7 March 2010Abstract
Background
To describe the characteristics of patients with tuberculosis (TB) requiring intensive care and to identify the factors that predicts in-hospital mortality in a city of a developing country with intermediate-to-high TB endemicity.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective, cohort study, between November 2005 and November 2007. The patients with TB requiring intensive care were included. Predictors of mortality were assessed. The primary outcome was the in-hospital mortality.
Results
During the study period, 67 patients with TB required intensive care. Of them, 62 (92.5%) had acute respiratory failure and required mechanical ventilation. Forty-four (65.7%) patients died. Coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus was present in 46 (68.7%) patients. Early intensive care unit admission and ventilator-associated pneumonia were independently associated with the in-hospital mortality.
Conclusions
In this study we found a high mortality rate in TB patients requiring intensive care, especially in those with an early ICU admission.