Data from: Short-term and medium-term survival of critically ill patients with solid tumours admitted to the intensive care unit: a retrospective analysis

Objectives: Patients with cancer frequently require unplanned admission to
the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Our objectives were to assess hospital and
180-day mortality in patients with a non-haematological malignancy and
unplanned ICU admission, and to identify which factors present on
admission were the best predictors of mortality. Design: Retrospective
review of all patients with a diagnosis of solid tumours following
unplanned admission to the ICU between 1st August 2008 and 31st July 2012.
Setting: Single centre tertiary care hospital in London (UK) Participants:
300 adult patients with non-haematological solid tumours requiring
unplanned admission to the ICU. Interventions: None Primary and secondary
outcomes: Hospital and 180-day survival Results: 300 patients were
admitted to the ICU (median age 66.5 years; 61.7% male). Survival to
hospital discharge and 180-days were 69% and 47.8%, respectively. Greater
number of failed organ systems on admission was associated with
significantly worse hospital survival (p<0.001) but not with
180-day survival (p=0.24). In multivariate analysis, predictors of
hospital mortality were the presence of metastases [odds ratio (OR 1.97),
95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-3.59], Acute Physiology and Chronic
Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.13) and a
Glasgow Coma Scale score <7 on admission to ICU (OR 5.21, 95% CI
1.65-16.43). Predictors of worse 180-day survival were the presence of
metastases (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.57-5.06), APACHE II score (OR 1.07, 95% CI
1.01-1.13) and sepsis (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.09-3.38). Conclusions: Short and
medium-term survival in patients with solid tumours admitted to ICU is
better than previously reported, suggesting that the presence of cancer
alone should not be a barrier to ICU admission.