Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood tests and APPLE score to predict death in sick dogs
By Köster, Liza S et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)·2019·Department of Clinical Sciences and Center for Integrative Mammalian Research·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparison of biomarkers adiponectin, leptin, C-reactive protein, S100A12, and the Acute Patient Physiologic and Laboratory Evaluation (APPLE) score as mortality predictors in critically ill dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 70 critically ill dogs was studied to see if certain blood markers could better predict survival than a scoring system called the APPLE score. The researchers found that only leptin levels were linked to the severity of the dogs' conditions, but the APPLE score was still the most reliable way to assess their chances of survival. Dogs that had been sick for less than a day before being admitted had a better chance of recovery. Overall, the APPLE score proved to be more useful than the blood markers for predicting which dogs would survive.
People also search for: dog critical care survival · leptin levels in dogs · APPLE score for sick dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine if selected serum biomarkers are superior to the acute patient physiologic and laboratory evaluation (APPLE) complete score in predicting 30-day mortality in a non-homogeneous disease population of critically ill dogs. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study comparing the serum biomarkers adiponectin, leptin, C-reactive protein, and S100A12 concentrations between surviving and nonsurviving critically ill dogs. SETTING: University small animal teaching hospital. ANIMALS: Seventy critically ill dogs were prospectively recruited, and an APPLE complete score was calculated within 24 hours of being admitted to the intensive care unit. Logistic regression models were fit to estimate the association between biomarkers and 30-day survival. Results were interpreted at the 5% level of significance. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Leptin was the only biomarker that was significantly correlated with the APPLE complete score (P < 0.001). Only the APPLE complete score (P = 0.003) and illness duration of < 1 day (P = 0.043) were significantly associated with outcome. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, there appears to be no benefit in using biomarkers over the APPLE score for disease severity stratification. Serum leptin concentration was significantly correlated with disease severity as determined by APPLE scoring. Longer duration of illness prior to admission was associated with a higher risk of death. APPLE scores were highest in dogs with infectious and immune-mediated diseases and bite wounds.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30861273/