Comparison of Conventional Intensive Care Scoring Systems and Prognostic Scores Specific for Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Predicting One-Year Mortality.

BACKGROUND: Specific prognostic models for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have short and simple features, whereas intensive care unit (ICU) severity scales include more complicated parameters. Even though newly developed ICU severity scales have disease-specific properties, they still lack radiologic parameters, which is crucial for ICH. AIMS: To compare the performance of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) III, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV, Logistic Organ Dysfunction Score (LODS), ICH, max-ICH, ICH functional outcome score (ICH-FOS), and Essen-ICH for prediction of in-hospital and one-year mortality of patients with ICH. METHODS: A single-center analysis of 137 patients with ICH was conducted over 5 years. The performance of scoring systems was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic analysis. The independent predictors of one-year mortality were investigated with a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The SAPS-III score was calculated both in the emergency department (ED) and ICU. RESULTS: Among the independent variables, the need for mechanical ventilation, hematoma volume, the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage, and hematoma originating from both lobar and nonlobar regions were found as the strongest predictor of one-year mortality. For in-hospital mortality, the discriminative power of SAPS-II, APACHE-IV, and LODS was excellent, and for SAPS-III-ICU and SAPS-III-ED, it was good. For one-year mortality, the discriminative power of SAPS-II, APACHE-IV, LODS, and SAPS-III-ICU was good, and for SAPS-III-ED, Essen-ICH, ICH, max-ICH, and ICH-FOS, it was fair. CONCLUSIONS: Although all three ICH-specific prognostic scales performed satisfactory results for predicting one-year mortality, the common intensive care severity scoring showed better performance. SAPS-III scores may be recommended for use in EDs after proper customization.

Mad honey sex: therapeutic misadventures from an ancient biological weapon.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: "Mad honey" poisoning occurs from ingestion of honey produced from grayanotoxin-containing nectar, often in the setting of use as an alternative medicine. This study is designed to assess the clinical effects, demographics, and rationale behind self-induced mad honey poisoning. METHODS: The study consisted of 2 components: a standardized chart review of the signs, symptoms, and treatment of patients with mad honey ingestion, treated in our emergency department between December 2002 and January 2008; and a cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of beekeepers specializing in the production and distribution of mad honey. RESULTS: We identified 21 cases. Patients were overwhelmingly men (18/21) and older (mean [SD]), 55 [11] years. Local beekeepers (N=10) ranked sexual performance enhancement as the most common reason for therapeutic mad honey consumption in men aged 41 through 60 years. Symptoms began 1.0 hour (SD 0.6 hour) after ingestion and included dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and syncope. Abnormal vital signs included hypotension (mean arterial pressure 58 mm Hg [SD 13 mm Hg]) and bradycardia (mean 45 beats/min [SD 9 beats/min]). Seventeen patients had sinus bradycardia and 2 had junctional rhythm. Nine patients were treated with atropine; 1 patient received dopamine. All patients were discharged 18 to 48 hours after admission. CONCLUSION: A dietary and travel history should be included in the assessment of middle-aged men presenting with bradycardia and hypotension. A mad honey therapeutic misadventure may be the cause rather than a primary cardiac, neurologic, or metabolic disorder.