Abstract
This study investigated whether serum prealbumin level is associated with mortality in heatstroke patients. A retrospective study of 102 heatstroke patients admitted to the ICU in the Affiliated Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2010 to November 2017 was performed they were divided into normal serum prealbumin group (n=79) and low prealbumin group (n=23) according to the difference in PA expression. The clinical data, laboratory inspection data, invasive positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), co-infection, shock and length of ICU stay during the ICU were compared between the two groups of patients. The study endpoints, deaths at admission, were recorded, and the survival curve plotted. Cox regression analysis was performed based on the clinical data of patients, and ROC curve plotted based on Cox multivariate independent prognostic indicators. There were significant differences in clinical variables PLT, ALT, AST, TBIL, ALB, TCH, LDH, TNI, BNP, creatinine, PT, APTT, FBG and D-dimer (P<0.05). The incidence of infection, shock and IPPV was significantly lower in normal serum prealbumin group of patients than those in low prealbumin group (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in short-term survival rate between the groups of patients (χ(2)=29.101, P<0.001). Prognostic factors for heatstroke patients were IPPV, heart rate, WBC count, PLT count, ALB, PA, TBIL, LDH, CPK, Cr, PCT, PT, APTT, D-dimer, co-infection and shock at admission. Independent prognostic-related factors for heatstroke patients were IPPV, PA level, PLT level, ALB level, CPK level and PT level. When prealbumin <17.95 mg/dl was used as the death threshold for predicting at 28 days, the sensitivity was 77.8%, and the specificity was 85.7%. Significantly associated with the prognosis of heatstroke patients, prealbumin level can be used as an important predictive indicator of the disease progression and worse clinical outcomes.