Effects of high doses of selenium, as sodium selenite, in septic shock: a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, phase II study

Table 2 Severity of illness at randomisation

Variable	Placebo group (n = 29)	Selenium group (n = 31)	P value
Temperature (°C)	37.9 ± 1.3	37.9 ± 1.1	0.778
Mean arterial pressure (mmHg)	61 ± 22	64 ± 17	0.343
Heart rate (beats/min)	121 ± 38	121 ± 28	0.938
Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II at inclusion	62 ± 13	61 ± 20	0.824
Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score at inclusion	12 ± 3	11 ± 3	0.161
Haemoglobin (g/dl)	9.9 ± 2.0	11.3 ± 1.9	0.005
Leucocytes (x10³/μl)	14.0 ± 12.2	15.7 ± 9.1	0.243
Platelets (x10³/μl)	210 ± 163	253 ± 156	0.237
Arterial lactate (mmol/l)	4.2 ± 3.9	3.8 ± 2.4	0.600
PaO₂/FiO₂ (kPa)	21.7 ± 13.4	19.8 ± 14.7	0.329
Fluid infusion (l)^a	3.3 ± 2.4	2.8 ± 1.9	0.436
Vasopressor therapy at randomization^b
Dopamine	21 (72)	19 (61)	0.361
Dobutamine	8 (28)	7 (23)	0.655
Epinephrine	12 (41)	14 (45)	0.768
Norepinephrine	19 (66)	13 (42)	0.067

Data presented as the mean ± standard deviation for quantitative variables and n (%) for qualitative variables. ^aAmount of fluid infused during the previous 24 hours. ^bDopamine at any dose; dobutamine, epinephrine and norpinephrine at doses corresponding to the inclusion criteria.

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