Predicting Mortality in Patients with Tuberculous Destroyed Lung Receiving Mechanical Ventilation

Kim, Won-Young; Kim, Mi-Hyun; Jo, Eun-Jung; Eom, Jung Seop; Mok, Jeongha; Kim, Ki Uk; Park, Hye-Kyung; Lee, Min Ki; Lee, Kwangha

In patients with TDL, pulmonary hypertension is associated with the severity of lung destruction 24 . In the present study, high RV systolic pressure and/or cor pulmonale were present in more than 50% of TDL patients who underwent echocardiography, although no contribution to ICU mortality was observed. Meanwhile, non-survivors had a numerically higher BNP. A BNP of ≥330 pg/mL tended to be associated with mortality and was included in the modified TDL-Vent score. These findings are consistent with the results of previous studies 19, 25, 26 , which demonstrated that BNP levels were a prognostic factor in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic cor pulmonale. Although BNP values were available for only 96 of the 125 TDL patients, the present results suggest that further studies are warranted to confirm the utility of BNP in terms of predicting mortality in these patients.