"Oldest old" patients in intensive care: prognosis and therapeutic activity.

OBJECTIVE: In view of ethical considerations and the limited resources in intensive care medicine, the present investigation aims to give a descriptive overview of the prognosis and therapeutic activity for the oldest age group of elderly patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in comparison with younger ICU patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 3069 patients admitted to the ICU during a seven-year period were categorized into four age groups: under 65 years (48%), 65 to 74 years (26%), 75 to 85 years (22%) and 85 years or older (5%). Type and reason for ICU admission, length of ICU stay, severity of illness as measured by the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS)-II, level of provided care as measured by the simplified therapeutic intervention scoring system (TISS)-28, and vital status at the date of ICU discharge were recorded. RESULTS: The ICU mortality rate of patients aged 85 years or older was significantly higher than in patients under 65 (OR of mortality: 1.8, p < 0.001). Non-survivors had higher SAPS II levels (even when excluding age points) in all age groups, but higher daily average TISS points only in patients under 85. The daily average TISS score was negatively correlated to age (r = -0.03; p < 0.001) and was significantly lower in the oldest group when compared with all the younger groups (p < 0.001). The oldest patients had a significantly shorter length of stay (median: 2; interquartile range [IQR] 1-3, p < 0.001) than the younger patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: Within the very elderly population, age is an important and independent predictor of mortality, but acute severity of illness is even more strongly associated with mortality. Consequently, age alone may be an inappropriate criterion for allocation of ICU resources.

Lack of impact of ABO blood group or corresponding isoantibodies on the immune response after rabies vaccination.

Demand for rabies hyperimmunoglobulin has increased recently, requiring optimization of vaccination schemes for immunized plasma donors. Possible resemblance of rabies vaccine to blood group antigens and consequential association of the immune response to rabies vaccine and blood group or corresponding isoantibodies has not yet been investigated. We analyzed antirabies antibodies after rabies vaccination and ABO blood group in 142 individuals, and isoantibody titers in 92 of those individuals. We did not find any correlation of the immune response with blood group or isoantibody levels. There was also no correlation with the sex of individuals, but there was a weak correlation between age and rabies-specific antibody level. Rabies vaccination schemes for immunized donors cannot be optimized on the basis of blood groups or isoantibody titers.