Larcher R, de Chambrun MP, Garnier F, et al. - Researchers evaluated short as well as long-term result of patients encountering systemic rheumatic disease (SRD) who were admitted to the ICU. In total, 525 patients with SRD were analyzed with the help of their records. In-hospital death rates were 30.5% and one-year mortality rates were estimated to be 37.7%. Overall, experts reported a fair outcome following an ICU stay in critically ill patients with SRD. Increased age, prior corticosteroid therapy, and severity of critical illness were shown to be correlated significantly with short- as well as long-term death rates. A correlation of one-year death rate with prior health status as well as with conventional disease modifying antirheumatic drug therapy was also identified.