[Severity evaluation system: APACHE II, SAPS. National experience in a unit of medical intensive therapy].

We evaluated 2 new prognostic indeces, APACHE II and SAPS, in 533 consecutive patients admitted to a general hospital clinical care unit Mortality was 19.5% (13.1% in the ICU). Among non-survivors 80% had a >=20 APACHE II score and 77% a>=13 SAPS score. Only 2% of patients with APACHE score <10 or SAPS <7 died. A good correlation with previously used indeces (APACHE I and TISS) was 0.6. Utilization of these prognostic indeces allows comparison of reports from different centers, evaluation of early and long term prognosis and a help in making cost-benefit decisions