Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
-
Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Jul 1997
[Epidemiological and prognostic data from 2054 patients of an internal medicine intensive care unit].
Computer-based data collection and objective gathering of degree of illness severity and risk of death with a prognostic scoring system make it possible to obtain, in addition to epidemiological and aetiological data, risk-related outcome values for patients in an intensive care unit. ⋯ Most patients in a MICU have underlying cardiac disease. Permanently available neurological consultation is essential. The high hospital death rate for elderly patients and those requiring respiratory support is a problem of disease severity, not of the quality of treatment. The risk of death is high on transfer to a general ward. Determination of the SMI is recommended for internal quality control in an ICU.