Characteristics of critically ill patients with traumatic brain injury, anoxic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage or intracerebral hemorrhage who progressed to neurologic death in Calgary, Alberta, from Jan. 1, 2002 to June 30, 2012
| Characteristic | Median (IQR) or % (no. of patients) | p value† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 1, 2002, to June 30, 2005, n = 64 | July 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2008, n = 53 | Jan. 1, 2009, to June 30, 2012, n = 40 | ||
| Age, yr | 42 (24–56) | 45 (26–58) | 44 (35–56) | 0.6 |
| Female | 50.0 (32) | 45.3 (24) | 40.0 (16) | 0.6 |
| Diagnosis | ||||
| Traumatic brain injury | 48.4 (31) | 35.8 (19) | 30.0 (12) | 0.04 |
| Anoxic brain injury | 9.4 (6) | 28.3 (15) | 27.5 (11) | |
| Subarachnoid hemorrhage | 23.4 (15) | 30.2 (16) | 25.0 (10) | |
| Intracerebral hemorrhage | 18.8 (12) | 5.7 (3) | 17.5 (7) | |
| Glasgow Coma Scale at admission | 3 (3–3.5) | 3 (3–3) | 3 (3–3) | 0.5 |
| APACHE II score* | ||||
| Full score | 29 (25–34) | 30 (26–34) | 29 (24–34) | 0.7 |
| Modified score | 16 (13–20) | 17 (14–21) | 15 (13–20) | 0.6 |
| Length of stay in intensive care unit, d | 0.9 (0.7–1.6) | 1.1 (0.7–1.7) | 1.3 (1.0–2.0) | 0.06 |
| Family approached regarding organ donation‡ | 96.9 (62) | 98.1 (52) | 95.0 (38) | 0.7 |
| Family consented to organ donation | 81.0 (50) | 81.0 (42) | 76 (29) | 0.7 |
Note: APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, IQR = interquartile range.
↵* Age and Glasgow Coma Scale score are components of the APACHE II score. The modified score was calculated by subtracting the impact of these variables.
↵† Nonparametric testing (Kruskal–Wallis test) was used for continuous variables and χ2 testing was used for discrete variables.
↵‡ Four patients’ families were not approached about organ donation because of an overt contraindication to donation; 1 patient sustained cardiac arrest before the family could be approached.