and highest in the combined cohort 29.7%. Higher mortality rates were noted in those aged ≥ 65 vs. 50-64 years. In an adjusted model, all-cause mortality was significantly elevated for every 0.1 mEq/L change in potassium <4.0 mEq/L and ≥ 5.0 mEq/L. Diuretics and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors were related to hypokalemia and hyperkalemia respectively. Conclusion: Mortality risk progressively increased with dyskalemia and was differentially greater in those with HF, CKD, or DM.

Background and Purpose-Many studies associate fever with poor outcome in patients with neurological injury, but this relationship is blurred by divergence in populations and outcome measures. We sought to incorporate all recent scholarship addressing fever in brain-injured patients into a comprehensive meta-analysis to evaluate disparate clinical findings. Methods-We conducted a Medline search for articles since January 1, 1995 (in English with abstracts, in humans) and hand searches of references in bibliographies and review articles. Search terms covered stroke, neurological injury, thermoregulation, fever, and cooling. A total of 1139 citations were identified; we retained 39 studies with 67 tested hypotheses contrasting outcomes of fever/higher body temperature and normothermia/lower body temperature in patients with neurological injury covering 14 431 subjects. A separate meta-analysis was performed for each of 7 outcome measures. Significance was evaluated with Zc developed from probability values or t values. Correlational effect size, r (es) , was calculated for each study and used to derive Cohen's d unbiased combined effect size and relative risk.

In a large cohort of neurologic ICU patients, after we controlled for severity of illness, diagnosis, age, and complications, elevated body temperature was independently associated with a longer ICU and hospital length of stay, higher mortality rate, and worse outcome.