Demographic and clinical characteristics of the 17 patients with humidifier disinfectant-associated lung injury*
| Variable | All patients (n=17) | Patients who survived (n=12) | Patients who died (n=5) | p Value† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Female sex | 15 (88.2%) | 10 (83.3%) | 5 (100%) | 1.000 |
| Age (years) | 35 (28–49) | 36 (29–49) | 34 (28–36) | 0.246 |
| ≤30 years | 3 (17.6%) | |||
| >30 to ≤40 years | 11 (64.7%) | |||
| >40 to ≤50 years | 3 (17.6%) | |||
| Peripartum | 11 (64.7%) | 6 (50.0%) | 5 (100%) | 0.102 |
| Familial cluster | 4 (23.5%) | 4 (33.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.261 |
| Treatment and prognosis | ||||
| Intensive care | 10 (58.8%) | 5 (41.7%) | 5 (100%) | 0.044 |
| Mechanical ventilation | 9 (52.9%) | 4 (33.3%) | 5 (100%) | 0.029 |
| Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation | 8 (52.9%) | 4 (33.3%) | 4 (80.0%) | 0.131 |
| Lung transplantation | 4 (23.5%) | 4 (33.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.261 |
| Onset of symptoms before admission (days) | 30 (1–120) | 32.5 (20–120) | 20 (1–80) | 0.362 |
| Admission to intubation (days) | 11 (1–59) | 40 (9–59) | 10 (1–32) | 0.914 |
| Onset of symptoms before death (days) | 61 (27–116) | |||
| Admission to death (days) | 36 (20–60) | |||
| Laboratory data at admission‡ | ||||
| Leukocyte count (/1000 mm3) | 10.9 (5.5–42) | 9.5 (5.5–26.9) | 16.1 (8–42) | 0.141 |
| C-reactive protein (mg/dL) | 1.73 (1–14) | 0.96 (0.1–8) | 4.34 (1.7–14) | 0.094 |
*All data are presented as median (range) or frequency (percentage).
†Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to calculate the p-value because the study population could have been too small, skewed or sparse to use the usual asymptotic methods.
‡One and two patients were excluded because of lack of information about the leukocyte count and C-reactive protein level, respectively.