1. Getting back to zero with nucleated red blood cells: following trends is not necessarily a bad thing
- Author
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Shah, Rupen, Reddy, Subhash, Horst, H. Mathilda, Stassinopoulos, Jerry, Jordan, Jack, and Rubinfeld, Ilan
- Subjects
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ERYTHROCYTES , *SYSTEMATIC reviews , *INTENSIVE care units , *HEALTH outcome assessment , *SURGICAL intensive care , *DATA analysis - Abstract
Abstract: Background: The presence of nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) has been identified as a poor prognostic indicator. We investigated the relationship of NRBC trends in patients with and without trauma. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed surgical intensive care unit admissions over 4 years, categorizing trauma and nontrauma patients and subdividing them into 3 groups: group A, all-zero NRBC; group B, positive NRBC value returning to zero; and group C, positive NRBC value that did not return to zero. We analyzed all groups for outcomes of length of stay and mortality. Results: Group A was the largest and had the shortest length of stay and least mortality. Group C had the highest mortality rate. No statistical difference was observed with mortality. Conclusions: Any positive NRBC was associated with poor outcome, and increasing NRBC was associated with increasing mortality. Trends in NRBC values showed that returning to zero was protective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2012
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