Table 5

Baseline characteristics of pediatric severe sepsis patients with purpura fulminans, meningitis, or meningococcal disease
Baseline characteristics1
 No PF, MEN, or MD N = 143
 PF, MEN, or MD N = 121
 PF N = 87
 MEN N = 50
 MD N = 90
Demographics and disease severity




     Age (years), mean ± SD
 6.8 ± 6.3
 5.6 ± 5.8
 6.1 ± 5.9
 5.7 ± 6.2
 5.9 ± 5.8
     Male (%)
 46.2
 53.7
 50.6
 52.0
 55.9
     Caucasian (%)
 63.6
 86.8
 90.8
 80.0
 92.2
     Organ dysfunctions, median; q1-q3
 2.0; 1.0–3.0
 2.0; 1.0–3.0
 2.0; 1.0–3.0
 2.0; 1.0–3.0
 2.0; 1.0–3.0
     First organ dysfunction to infusion (h), mean ± SD
 22.3 ± 13.3
 13.0 ± 10.0
 13.2 ± 9.5
 12.3 ± 9.1
 13.0 ± 10.2
Coagulation biomarkers




     Protein C level (%), median; q1-q3
 38; 24–59
 27; 19–38
 29; 19–38
 24; 16–41
 26; 18–35
     Platelet count, median; q1-q3
 115; 58–205
 88; 51–142
 85; 42–122
 107; 67–178
 87; 53–132
     APTT (s), median; q1-q3
 46; 35–59
 57; 41–79
 57; 40–82
 49; 40–70
 57; 40–80
     PT (s), median; q1-q3
 16; 14–21
 20; 15–26
 20; 16–26
 17; 15–23
 20; 16–25
Cardiovascular and respiratory measures




     Vasopressor (%)
 70.8
 87.4
 90.0
 81.6
 87.5
     Ventilator (%)
 90.6
 80.0
 82.9
 76.3
 79.2
     Cardiovascular study entry criteria (%)
 82.5
 93.5
 97.3
 90.9
 96.2
     Respiratory study entry criteria (%)
 64.3
 34.6
 37.0
 34.1
 30.8

1Patients with missing data were excluded from this analysis. APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; MD, meningococcal disease; MEN, meningitis; PF, purpura fulminans; PT, prothrombin time.

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