Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 214 cancer patients with acute respiratory failure and diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiography.

Age (years)

60 (51-68)

56 (44-67)

62 (56-69)

0.002

Gender (male)

144 (67)

77 (67)

67 (68)

0.911

Co-morbidities

111 (52)

59 (51)

52 (53)

0.859

   Cardiovascular

40

19

21

   Respiratory

25

11

14

   Hepatic

10

4

6

   Renal

4

3

1

   Diabetes

2

2

0

   Others^a

15

12

3

ECOG performance status (3 or more)

61 (28)

35 (30)

26 (26)

0.500

Type of malignancy

   Solid

98 (46)

   Hematologic

116 (54)

Status of malignancy

   Relapsed/refractory

64 (30)

34 (30)

30 (30)

0.906

   Extensive disease or major organ involvement

151 (71)

66 (58)

85 (86)

<0.001

Stem cell transplantation

28 (13)

28 (24)

0

   Allogenic

11

11

   Autologous

17

17

Duration of malignancy, months

8.2 (2.9-19.4)

7.4 (2.6-18.2)

8.5 (3.1-24.0)

0.154

Clinical status on ICU admission

   Antibacterial agents

210 (98)

115 (100)

95 (96)

0.044

   Recent chemotherapy prior to ICU admission within 4 weeks

89 (42)

45 (39)

44 (44)

0.487

   Need for mechanical ventilation^b

109 (51)

43 (37)

66 (67)

<0.001

   Need for vasopressor support

52 (24)

28 (24)

24 (24)

0.986

   Need for renal replacement therapy

19 (9)

16 (14)

3 (3)

0.005

Laboratory findings

   WBC,/μL

6,305 (2,250-12,378)

3,030 (730-7,280)

10,220 (5,330-15,670)

<0.001

ANC,/μL

3,970 (995-8,545)

1,700 (240-4,570)

7,520 (3380-12,680)

<0.001

Neutropenia (ANC <500/μL)

40 (18)

32 (28)

8 (8)

<0.001

   Platelet, 10³/μL

112.5 (29.0-234.8)

35.0 (16.0-117.0)

187.0 (116.0-271.0)

<0.001

   CRP, mg/dL

14.8 (7.4-22.3)

12.1 (5.5-19.8)

16.2 (10.4-24.0)

0.003

   Procalcitonin, ng/mL

0.65 (0.19-2.85)

0.72 (0.19-3.70)

0.56 (0.17-2.29)

0.443

   pH

7.444 (7.375-7.474)

7.452 (7.400-7.483)

7.433 (7.362-7.465)

0.017

   NT-proBNP, pg/mL

1392 (273-4796)

2,108 (445-8,780)

940 (239 - 3424)

0.035

   PF ratio

145 (105-214)

160 (109-234)

134 (101 - 181)

0.075

Severity of illness

   SAPS 3 (points)

61 (50-75)

65 (52-78)

58 (48-66)

0.002

   SOFA score (points)

6 (3-8)

6 (4-9)

5 (3-8)

0.013

Length of stay in ICU (days)

6 (3-13)

5 (2-10)

7 (3-16)

0.012

Length of stay in hospital (days)

26 (15-44)

31 (17-59)

21 (12-34)

0.002

ICU mortality

64 (30)

33 (29)

31 (31)

0.765

In-hospital mortality

105 (49)

55 (48)

50 (51)

0.784

90-day mortality

138 (65)

68 (59)

70 (71)

0.087