Cirrhotic patients admitted to the ICU for medical reasons: Analysis of 5506 patients admitted to 286 ICUs in 8 years

PurposeTo describe characteristics and prognostic factors of cirrhotic patients admitted to a representative sample of Italian intensive care units (ICUs).Materials and methodsAll patients admitted to 286 ICUs for medical reasons between 2002 and 2010 (excluding 2007) were considered. A logistic regression model was developed on cirrhotics to predict hospital mortality. The prediction was applied to different subgroups defined by both the level of unit expertise with cirrhotics and the overall unit performance, and compared to the actual mortality.Results5506 cirrhotic patients (32.1% admitted to the ICU for non-cirrhotic-related reasons) were compared to 130,477 controls. Hospital mortality was higher in cirrhotics (57.2% vs. 35.0%, p