Prognostic factors in the survival of patients with blood disorders recovering from septic shock

Background: Septic shock is one of the major direct causes of death in patients in hematology departments.

Objectives: The knowledge about clinical outcomes and factors associated with negative outcome in these patients can be important and useful for physicians to identify the patients who are most likely to benefit from ICU therapy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed records of 214 episodes of septic shock in patients with different blood diseases hospitalized between 1998 and 2011 in the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Internal Medicine, the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.

Results: Direct survival with resolution of septic shock was 46%. Among these survivors, 75% continued to live at 30 days, 49% at 6 months, and 12% at 5 years after shock resolution. It was found that the most important prognostic factors for direct (short-term) mortality were multiorgan failure, lack of concordance of empiric antibiotic treatment with results of in vitro sensitivity testing, the Karnofsky score below 60%, presence of more than two comorbidities. Long-term prognosis (3-year follow-up) was affected by multiple factors with the most significant being Karnofsky score, higher organ failure score, hematologic disease relapse or resistance to treatment.

Discussion: Septic shock in patients with blood disorders treated in the hematology ward was associated with very high risk of mortality in all periods after its completion. However, although the results of treatment of septic shock in patients with blood diseases are poor, they were comparable to the results of treatment of septic shock in mixed populations treated in intensive care units.