• Xin Lu, Xue Wang, Yanxia Gao, Shiyuan Yu, Lina Zhao, Zhongheng Zhang, Huadong Zhu, and Yi Li.
• Emergency Department, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Apr 1; 42: 121-126.

BackgroundCorticosteroids have been widely used as adjunct therapy for septic shock for many decades, but both the efficacy and safety remain unclear. The study was designed to investigate overall benefits and potential risks of corticosteroids in immunocompromised patients with septic shock.MethodsThe Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III) database was employed to conduct a cohort study. Immunocompromised patients with septic shock were enrolled and categorized by whether exposure to intravenous corticosteroids. Cox Proportional-Hazards models were used to control for confounders and assess the relationship between corticosteroids use and mortality.ResultsA total of 866 patients were enrolled in this study, including 395 in the corticosteroids group and 471 in the non-corticosteroids group. Corticosteroids infusion was not associated with improved 30-day mortality in overall immunocompromised population [34.7% vs 32.1%; adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87-1.43, p = 0.37]. The mortality effects were similar in 90-day, 180-day, 1-year and hospital mortality. For the subgroup of patients with metastatic cancer, corticosteroids infusion was associated with a statistically significant increase in the 30-day mortality risk (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.06-2.37; p = 0.02). Corticosteroids had adverse effects on hemodynamic stability, prolonged ICU and hospital duration, and increased risk of hyperglycemia.ConclusionsCorticosteroids therapy for the maintenance of blood pressure was not associated with improved mortality or hemodynamic stability in overall immunocompromised population with septic shock. Future randomized clinical trials are required to validate the effects of corticosteroids for septic shock in the special immunocompromised population.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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