Adult hemophagocytic syndrome in emergency department setting: the implications of hormone therapy on diagnosis and prognosis / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To assess the implications of hormone therapy on confirmation of clinical diagnosis and prognosis of adult hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) in the emergency department setting.Methods:The eligible 34 patients admitted with suspected HPS in the Emergency Department of Peking University People's Hospital from September 2019 to August 2021 were respectively collected. The patients were divided into the death group and survival group according to the prognosis and divided into early hormone therapy group and standard hormone therapy group according to the timing of hormone application. Patients in the early hormone therapy group were divided into the routine 4 criteria group and non-routine 4 criteria group according to the conditions of meeting the four HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. Medical records of the following were collected and statistically analyzed complete blood count, blood biochemical index, coagulation function, serum ferritin, NK cell activity, sCD25 level, peripheral blood smear, bone marrow biopsy, abdominal ultrasound scan, and abdominal CT on admission, and recheck the clinical indicators such as blood count, blood biochemical index and blood coagulation dunction 5-7 days later.Results:①Patients from the death group were older, with higher APACHEⅡ scores and SOFA scores, higher total bilirubin, and lower serum albumin. ② Univariate Logistic analysis showed age ( OR=1.098, CI 1.019-1.183, P=0.014), APACHE Ⅱ score ( OR=1.144, CI 1.017-1.285, P=0.024), SOFA score ( OR=1.441, CI 1.079-1.925, P=0.013) were associated with the risk of death. Multivariate Logistic analysis showed that age ( OR=1.099, CI 1.014-1.190, P=0.021) was associated with the risk of death. There was no significant correlation between early hormone therapy and clinical prognosis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that there was no difference in the 60-day survival rate between the early hormone therapy group and the standard hormone therapy group. ③ The level of triglyceride still increased after early hormone therapy, and the number of indexes meeting the diagnostic criteria of HLH-2004 increased significantly. All patients met the criteria of Hscore>169, and 3 patients did not meet at least 5 diagnostic criteria of HLH-2004, accounting for 16.7% of the total cases of early hormone therapy. ④ Starting hormone therapy when the four HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria were met could reduce the length of hospital stay. Prothrombin time and activited partial thomboplastin time were closer to normal levels in patients 5-7 days after treatment. Early hormone therapy had no significant effect on treatment response and in-hospital death risk. There were no significant differences in APACHE Ⅱ score, SOFA score, confirmation of diagnosis, treatment response, clinical prognosis, and related clinical indicators after hormone therapy between the routine 4 criteria and non-routine 4 criteria groups. Conclusions:Initiation of early hormone therapy has no significant effect on the confirmation of clinical diagnosis, treatment response, in-hospital mortality, and 60-day survival rate of patients with HPS, and can quickly correct coagulation dysfunction and effectively reduce the length of hospital stay. An earlier start of hormonal therapy (meeting the four HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria) may be considered by the emergency physician when a patient is highly suspected of HPS diagnosis