RESUMO
Resumen Introducción: La disfunción inmunológica en el paciente críticamente enfermo es un compromiso de un sistema muy poco estudiado; adicionalmente, en la población infantil aún faltan guías que orienten la evaluación del sistema inmunológico. Objetivo: Determinar la asociación de disfunción inmunológica y los desenlaces en los pacientes que ingresan a la unidad de cuidado intensivo pediátrico. Materiales y método: Estudio observacional, con componente analítico, llevado a cabo durante cuatro años, en el que se revisaron los expedientes de todos los pacientes pediátricos consecutivos con estancia en la unidad de cuidados intensivos a quienes, por criterios médicos, se les realizó perfil inmunológico. Resultados: Durante el período de estudio se reportaron 188 pacientes quienes cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. Se presentó disfunción inmunológica en el 83% de los casos y enfermedad cardiaca en el 65%. La disfunción inmunológica se asoció con peores desenlaces medidos en mortalidad (37 vs. 9%; p = 0.0021), tiempo de estancia mayor a 14 días (46 vs. 14%; p < 0.0001) y disfunción multiorgánica (72 vs. 25%; p < 0.0001). Conclusión: La disfunción inmunológica es frecuente en los pacientes que ingresan a la unidad de cuidado intensivo pediátrico y se asocia con un aumento de la mortalidad, la duración de la ventilación mecánica invasiva y la duración de la estancia en la unidad de cuidado intensivo pediátrico. Muchos factores se asociaron con el desarrollo de disfunción inmunológica en esta población. Se necesitan estudios prospectivos para dilucidar el manejo óptimo de la disfunción inmunológica en el paciente crítico.
Abstract Introduction: Immune dysfunction in critical patients has not been clearly defined and has been insufficiently researched, particularly in pediatrics. Guidelines to standardize the immune system assessment and for routine use in clinical practice are lacking. Objective: To determine the association between immune dysfunction (here understood as the reduction of immunoglobulins and/or of the absolute count or populations of lymphocytes) and the outcome of patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. Materials and method: This was an observational, analytical, descriptive, retrospective study, conducted over four years. The records of all patients who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and had an immunity profile done were included in the database. Demographic and clinical variables were compared between patients with and without immune dysfunction. Results: A total of 188 patients with an immune profile were identified; 83% of patients had immune dysfunction and 65% had heart disease. The presence of immune dysfunction was associated with worse outcomes measured in mortality (37 vs. 9% p = 0.0021), length of stay greater than 14 days (46 vs. 14%; p < 0.0001) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (72 vs. 25%; p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Immune dysfunction is frequent in patients with a difficult disease course and in our study sample. It was found to be associated with increased mortality, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and length of stay in the pediatric intensive care unit. Further prospective studies with other biomarkers are needed to determine the immune compromise and its impact on outcomes in the critically ill children.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the validity of the North American-European Consensus Committee (NAECC) definition for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in pediatric patients. A secondary aim was to evaluate the threshold value for the PaO2/FiO2 ratio, used to determine which pediatric patients have ARDS. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Pediatric intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Pediatric intensive care unit patients who required mechanical ventilation, died, and underwent autopsy between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2002 (n = 34). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinical and chest radiograph information was collected retrospectively through chart review using a standardized data collection tool. Data included the criteria specified in the NAECC definition of ARDS and demographic information. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and likelihood ratio of clinical diagnosis of ARDS compared with a pathologic diagnosis. The threshold value of PaO2/FiO2 was identified by plotting receiver operating characteristics curves and comparing the areas under the curves. The NAECC definition yielded a sensitivity of 80.7% (95% confidence interval 60-92%), specificity of 71.4% (95% confidence interval 30-95), positive predictive value of 91.3% (95% confidence interval 70-98), negative predictive value of 50.0% (95% confidence interval 20-78), and likelihood ratio of 2.82. A PaO2/FiO2 <150 had a slightly higher (but not significantly different) specificity for ARDS than a value >200 (71% vs. 86%, p = .15) without changing sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests the need for further research with larger number of children to identify an optimal Pao2/Fio2 threshold for identifying ARDS in this population.