Predicting mortality in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn with the Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology-Version II (SNAP-II) in Thai neonates.

AIM: To evaluate the ability of the Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology-Version II (SNAP-II) to predict mortality in infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

METHODS

A prospective cohort study of 41 infants with PPHN admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit between June 2008 and March 2010, who underwent a SNAP-II test within 12 h of admission.

RESULTS

Of the 41 infants, 14 died (34.1%) and 27 survived (65.9%). The SNAP-II scores were significantly higher in infants who died (50.1 ± 18.5 vs. 35.7 ± 16.8, P=0.02). Each point increase in the SNAP score increased the odds of mortality by 1.04 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.07, P<0.01]. Infants who had a SNAP-II score of ≥ 43 had the greatest mortality risk with an odds ratio (OR) of 10.00 (95% CI 1.03-97.50). The SNAP-II model showed moderate discrimination in predicting mortality with a result of 0.72 (95% CI 0.56-0.88) under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The lowest blood pressure, lowest PaO(2)/FIO(2) ratio, and urine output within the first 12 h of admission were also independently found to be good predictors of an increased risk for death.

CONCLUSION

The SNAP-II scoring system significantly predicted mortality. PPHN infants with a SNAP-II score of ≥ 43 had the greatest mortality risk.