Table 4 Patients’ demographic data, clinical characteristics at admission to ICU and outcomes grouped according to the SST

Age (years)

56.0 ± 12.8

56.0 ± 18.0

0.997

Gender (M/F)

22/6

14/4

1.000

SOFA score

14.8 ± 3.3

8.7 ± 2.8

<0.001

MELD score

35.3 ± 8.8

21.3 ± 9.5

<0.001

Child–Pugh score

13 (12–14)

9 (8–11.5)

<0.001

ACTH (pg/ml)

28 (15–40)

7.9 (6.7–18.3)

<0.001

Baseline cortisol (nmol/L)

877 (481–1331)

555 (417–859)

0.054

Peak cortisol (nmol/L)

967 (695–1505)

1021 (803–1458)

0.727

Cortisol increment (nmol/L)

145 (70–217)

399 (314–546)

<0.001

Baseline DHEAS (nmol/L)

678 (437–1111)

921 (524–1552)

0.229

Peak DHEAS (nmol/L)

750 (491–1141)

1159 (595–1866)

0.075

DHEAS increment (nmol/L)

41 (16–101)

180 (90–278)

0.002

Baseline DHEAS/cortisol

1.01 ± 0.79

2.11 ± 1.58

0.012

IL-6 (pg/ml)

660 (240–968)

164 (85–328)

0.011

TNF-α (pg/ml)

44 (31–79)

16 (6–36)

0.007

Hospital mortality

26/28 (92.9%)

8/18 (44.4%)

<0.001