Protective effects of rheumatoid arthritis in septic ICU patients

We used the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care II (MIMIC II) database to analyze factors contributing to the mortality of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with severe sepsis. We found that septic patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have significantly lower observed mortality rates than patients without the condition. Further, differences in gender, age, disease severity, and patients' use of corticosteroids did not explain this phenomenon, suggesting that the observed protective effect is specific to RA.