ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In pediatric acute respiratory failure patients requiring mechanical ventilator support, mortality is seldom related to respiratory disease alone, but more generally to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether early changes in the SOFA score (Delta-SOFA) are more effective for predicting the outcome than a single assessment upon admission for pediatric acute respiratory failure patients requiring mechanical ventilator support. METHODS: The medical records of pediatric patients with acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilator support for more than 72 hours in the PICU of the Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital, Seoul, Korea, between January 2008 and May 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Early Delta-SOFA showed a significantly stronger correlation with patient mortality compared with the initial SOFA score, PRISM III score and PELOD score (P<0.05). When analyzing the trends in the SOFA score during the first 72 hours, the mortality rate was significantly higher in children with increased and unchanged SOFA scores 72 hours after admission than in children with a decreased SOFA score. (14.5% vs. 42.9%, P<0.05) CONCLUSION: Regardless of the initial SOFA score, early serial evaluation of the SOFA scores during the first 3 days of PICU admission is a better indicator of the prognosis than a single assessment obtained at admission in acute respiratory failure patients mechanically ventilated for more than 3 days.