Severe acute respiratory syndrome: clinical outcome and prognostic correlates

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) poses a major threat to the health of people worldwide. We performed a retrospective case series analysis to assess clinical outcome and identify pretreatment prognostic correlates of SARS, managed under a standardized treatment protocol. We studied 127 male and 196 female patients with a mean age of 41+14 (range 18-83). All patients, except two, received ribavirin and steroid combination therapy. In 115 (36%) patients, the course of disease was limited. Pneumonitis progressed rapidly in the remaining patients. Sixty-seven (21%) patients required intensive care, and 42 (13%) required ventilator support. Advanced age, high admission neutrophil count, and high initial lactate dehydrogenase level were independent correlates of an adverse clinical outcome. SARS-associated coronavirus caused severe illnesses in most patients, despite early treatment with ribavirin and steroid. This study has identified three independent pretreatment prognostic correlates.