Table 1

Baseline characteristics of adult severe sepsis patients with purpura fulminans, meningitis, or meningococcal disease

Baseline characteristics1
No PF, MEN, or MD n = 3,907 (816 PLC)
PF, MEN, or MD n = 189 (24 PLC)
PF n = 77 (5 PLC)
MEN n = 128 (21 PLC)
MD n = 92 (10 PLC)

Demographics and disease severity





     Age (years), mean ± SD
60.3 ± 16.5
44.4 ± 19.6
34.6 ± 14.4
48.2 ± 20.4
34.9 ± 16.1
     Male (%)
57.8
53.4
58.4
53.1
50.0
     Caucasian (%)
86.8
91.0
92.2
91.4
89.1
     Organ dysfunctions, median; q1-q3
3.0; 2.0–3.0
2.0; 1.0–4.0
3.0; 2.0–4.0
2.0; 1.0–3.0
2.0; 2.0–4.0
     First organ dysfunction to infusion (h), mean ± SD
22.6 ± 13.0
18.3 ± 13.2
13.5 ± 11.8
18.5 ± 13.4
14.9 ± 11.3
     APACHE II score, mean ± SD
23.2 ± 7.6
22.6 ± 8.1
22.3 ± 7.8
22.0 ± 7.9
21.9 ± 7.8
     GCS score, mean ± SD
12.2 ± 3.8
10.3 ± 4.1
11.8 ± 3.8
9.8 ± 4.0
11.2 ± 4.1
Underlying comorbidities





     Congestive cardiomyopathy (%)
5.7
0
0
0
0
     COPD (%)
19.4
3.1
0
4.0
1.3
     Diabetes (%)
21.0
9.9
2.0
11.3
5.1
     Hypertension (%)
36.7
18.0
6.1
20.2
7.7
     Liver disease (%)
2.9
2.5
4.1
2.4
2.6
     Cancer (%)
16.3
7.5
2.0
8.1
5.1
     Myocardial infarction (%)
11.6
1.9
0
2.4
0
     Pancreatitis (%)
3.7
1.2
0
1.6
1.3
     Recent trauma (%)
3.9
1.9
4.1
1.6
1.3
     Recent surgery (%)
35.5
1.9
4.1
1.6
1.3
Coagulation biomarkers





     Protein C level (%), median; q1-q3
46; 30–64
47; 30–67
30; 20–45
54; 38–74
40; 27–53
     Platelet count, median; q1-q3
172; 105–249
91; 45–142
59; 35–95
119; 65–159
70; 34–121
     APTT (s), median; q1-q3
41; 34–50
44; 35–55
48; 41–63
40; 34–49
48; 38–62
     PT (s), median; q1-q3
18; 15–21
17; 15–22
17; 14–23
17; 15–21
19; 16–23
Cardiovascular and respiratory measures





     Vasopressor (%)
69.6
60.1
76.6
47.2
72.5
     Ventilator (%)
79.3
79.8
80.5
76.4
76.9
     Cardiovascular study entry criteria (%)
78.8
68.3
77.6
64.5
79.5
     Respiratory study entry criteria (%)
80.5
57.8
59.2
54.0
47.4

1Patients with missing data were excluded from this analysis. APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II; APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; MD, meningococcal disease; MEN, meningitis; PF, purpura fulminans; PLC, placebo; PT, prothrombin time.

Vincent et al. Critical Care 2005 9:R331   doi:10.1186/cc3538