Is morbid obesity an independent determinant of death among surgical critically ill patients?
Morbid obesity (body mass index > or =40 kg/m(2)) is an independent risk factor for death in surgical patients with catastrophic illness requiring prolonged intensive care. The prevalence of obesity is growing, both in the intensive care unit and in the general population. The increased risk of complications and death in this population mandates that we adapt customized processes of care to specifically address this unique and very challenging subset of patients.
Together, these observations helped to verify that PNC prevalence selectively represents malignancy in a broad spectrum of solid tissue tumors, demonstrating its potential to be developed as a pancancer prognostic marker of malignancy.