Incidence, risk factors, and outcome of severe sepsis and septic shock in adults. A multicenter prospective study in intensive care units. French ICU Group for Severe Sepsis.

Abstract To examine the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of severe sepsis in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Inception cohort study from a 2-month prospective survey of 11,828 consecutive admissions to 170 adult ICUs of public hospitals in France. Patients meeting clinical criteria for severe sepsis were included and classified as having documented infection (ie, documented severe sepsis, n = 742), or a clinical diagnosis of infection without microbiological documentation (ie, culture-negative severe sepsis, n = 310). Hospital and 28-day mortality after severe sepsis. Clinically suspected sepsis and confirmed severe sepsis occurred in 9.0 (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.5 to 9.5) and 6.3 (95% CI, 5.8 to 6.7) of 100 ICU admissions, respectively. The 28-day mortality was 56% (95% CI, 52% to 60%) in patients with severe sepsis, and 60% (95% CI, 55% to 66%) in those with culture-negative severe sepsis. Major determinants of both early (