Factors Associated with Pulmonary Edema in Severe Scorpion Sting Patients – A Multivariate Analysis of 428 Cases

Objective. To determine clinical and routine laboratory factors associated with pulmonary edema secondary to scorpion envenomation. Design and Setting. Retrospective study covering 13 years (1990–2002) in the medical Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital (Sfax-Tunisia). Patients. 428 patients older than 3 years who were admitted to the intensive care unit for scorpion envenomation were included in this study. Patients were stratified into two groups according to the presence or absence of pulmonary edema as assessed by a medical committee. Measurements and Results. The mean (± SD) age was 17.5 ± 17.7 years, ranging from 3 to 76 years. The pulmonary edema group included 294 patients (68.7%). A multivariate analysis found the following factors to be correlated with a pulmonary edema: age less than 5 years (p = 0.04), sweating (p = 0.004), agitation (p = 0.01), leukocytes of 25000 cells/mm3 or more (p = 0.02), and a plasma protein concentration of 72 g/L or more (p < 0.0001). In addition, a plasma pro...