Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Early Hyperbilirubinemia in Critically Ill Patients: Insights From the MARS Study

To investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics and outcomes of early hyperbilirubinemia in critically ill patients. This is a post hoc analysis of a prospective multicenter cohort study. Patients with measured bilirubin levels within the first 2 days after ICU admission were eligible. Patients with liver cirrhosis were excluded. The primary endpoint was the incidence of early hyperbilirubinemia, defined as bilirubin ≥33 μmol/L within 2 days after ICU admission. Secondary endpoints included clinical characteristics of patients with versus patients without early hyperbilirubinemia, and outcomes up to day 30. Of 4,836 patients, 559 (11.6%) patients had early hyperbilirubinemia. Compared to patients without early hyperbilirubinemia, patients with early hyperbilirubinemia presented with higher severity of illness scores, and higher incidences of sepsis and organ failure. After adjustment for confounding variables, early hyperbilirubinemia remained associated with mortality at day 30 (odds ratio, 1.31 [95%-confidence interval 1.06-1.60]; P = 0.018). Patients with early hyperbilirubinemia and thrombocytopenia (interaction P-value = 0.005) had a higher likelihood of death within 30 days (odds ratio, 2.61 [95%-confidence interval 2.08-3.27]; P