Rahman et al reported the RAPID (renal, age, purulence, infection source, dietary factors) for evaluating a patient with a pleural infection. This can help to identify a patient who may benefit from more aggressive management. The authors are from Oxford University Hospitals, University College London and University of Bristol in England.
Patient selection: pleural infection
Parameters:
(1) renal: serum urea in mmol/L
(2) age in years
(3) purulence
(4) infection source
(5) dietary factors: serum albumin in g/L
Parameter
Finding
Points
serum urea
< 5
0
5 to 8
1
> 8
2
age in years
< 50 years
0
50 to 70 years
1
> 70 years
2
purulence
absent
1
present
0
infection source
community-acquired
0
hospital-acquired
1
serum ablumin
>= 27 g/L
0
< 27 g/L
1
total score =
= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 7
• The higher the score the greater the risk.
Total Score
Risk Group
Mortality at 3 Months
0 to 2
low
1-3%
3 or 4
medium
9-12%
5 to 7
high
31-51%
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.80.
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