Thrombocytopenia as a prognostic factor in patients with severe sepsis in Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Previous studies show that thrombocytopenia probably reflects the severity and course of subclinical pathological condition, and its correction seems to be associated with better prognosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate thrombocytopenia as a prognostic factor in patients with severe sepsis admitted to the ICU of Londrina University Hospital from June to December, 2008. Prospective observational study was conducted. We analyzed 54 patients aged 59.03 ± 19.17 years, 64.8% man. Data were obtained from the Database of ICU’s HU-UEL. The following variables were used: age, gender, period of observation, diagnosis of ICU admission, severity of illness assessed by APACHE II score (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II), presence of comorbidities, organ dysfunction assessed by scoring SOFA and laboratory data of platelet count. The average platelet count in all patients on admission to ICU was 209,018 ± 148,209/ mm3, and 26% of patients had thrombocytopenia during ICU stay. When compared platelet count between survivors and non survivors patients we observed significantly lower mean count in non survivors.