• Nizar Souayah, Lubna Shafiq Mehyar, Hafiz M R Khan, Hussam A Yacoub, Zaid Abed Al-Kariem A Al-Qudah, Abu Nasar, Zubeda Begum Sheikh, Leila Maybodi, and Adnan I Qureshi.
• Department of Neurology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. souayani@umdnj.edu
• Neuroepidemiology. 2012 Jan 1; 38 (4): 233-6.

BackgroundTo assess the impact of new therapeutic strategies on outcomes and hospitalization charges among adult patients with botulism in the United States.MethodsWe determined in-hospital outcomes and charges for patients with botulism hospitalized in 1993-1994 and compared them with those observed among patients hospitalized in 2006-2007. Mortality, length of stay, and hospitalization charges were calculated. Age, sex, race, ethnicity, and discharge status were also reported.ResultsThere were 66 and 132 admissions of adult patients with botulism in 1993-1994 and 2006-2007, respectively. Men predominance was observed in 2006-2007 compared to women predominance during the 1993-1994 time period. There was no significant difference in the average length of stay and in-hospital mortality rate between the two groups studied. However, in the 2006-2007 group, there was a significant increase in the mean hospitalization charges (USD 126,092 ± 120,535 vs. USD 83,623 ± 82,084; p = 0.0107) and in the proportion of patients requiring mechanical ventilation when compared to 1993-1994 (34 vs. 13.6%; p < 0.0001).ConclusionBotulism continues to be an infrequent cause of hospitalization, with a significant increase in the average hospitalization charges in 2006-2007 when compared to 1993-1994, despite a nonsignificant change in the mortality rate and average length of hospitalization.Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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