Abstract
As knowledge of the pathophysiology of organ dysfunctions has been increasing, so the survival of critically ill patients has been improving. After ICU admission, patients with hematological malignancies, however, are still at high risk. We retrospectively evaluated outcome, and risk factors related to mortality of such patients admitted to our ICU. Reviewing medical records of patients admitted between 2005 and 2011, we collected data for age, gender, reasons for ICU admission, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, presence and progress of underlying disease, number of organ dysfunction, pancytopenia, treatment with or without bone marrow transplantation, ventilatory support, including noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), cause of death, length of ICU stay, ICU mortality, and hospital mortality. Of the 35 patients we found with hematological malignancies, 20 (57.1%) died in the ICU. ICU mortality was lower in patients with only NPPV than those who were intubated. Number of organ dysfunction was also related to ICU mortality. Patients with hematological malignancies remained poor prognosis. NPPV was thought to be effective to care respiratory failure of those who did not cause severe organ dysfunction.
