• H J van Leeuwen, F T Boereboom, M A Pols, A I Hoepelman, and J T Savelkoul.
• Department of Critical Care and Clinical Toxicology, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
• Neth J Med. 2000 Sep 1; 57 (3): 74-81.

BackgroundDespite improved treatment modalities, the mortality of HIV infected patients admitted to the intensive care unit with respiratory failure remains high. To help ICU physicians in advising HIV infected patients whether to undergo mechanical ventilation, we retrospectively investigated prognostic factors predicting hospital outcome for HIV-infected patients, admitted to a medical intensive care unit with respiratory failure before the era of highly-active anti-retroviral therapy.MethodsA retrospective chart review was carried out of all HIV-infected patients with respiratory failure admitted to the medical ICU of a Dutch University Hospital between 1991 and 1997.ResultsIn the six year period, 29 HIV-infected patients were admitted to the ICU for respiratory failure. Mechanical ventilation, CD4 cell count, APACHE II score, APACHE III score, ARDS and length of ICU stay all differed significantly between survivors and non-survivors. However, a multivariate analysis only showed the need for mechanical ventilation as an independent risk factor for mortality. The only combination of factors able to accurately predict mortality for the individual patient was the development of ARDS and the requirement of mechanical ventilation.ConclusionsThe combination of mechanical ventilation and ARDS accurately predicts hospital outcome in HIV-infected patients presenting with respiratory failure before the HAART era.

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