Citation

Ferron C, Trewick D, Le Conte P, Batard ER, Girard L, Potel G. Presse Med. (1983) 2006; 35(2 Pt 1): 196-199.

Vernacular Title

Canicule de l'ete 2003: etude descriptive des deces par coup de chaleur au CHU de

Affiliation

Service d'accueil des urgences, Centre hospitalier et universitaire de Nantes. claire.ferron@chu-nantes.fr

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16493346

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We investigated patients who died in our institution during the August 2003 heat wave, to determine whether some in hospital patients actually died of heat stroke. METHODS: Records of all patients who died in our tertiary care hospital between 6-15 August 2003 were analyzed retrospectively. Heat stroke was considered the cause of death when the following criteria were met: body temperature higher than 40.5 degrees C, except if there was documented evidence of cooling before the first temperature measurement, central nervous system abnormalities, and a reliable history of exposure to high temperatures in a hospital ward. The number of patients who died in the hospital during the heat wave was compared with data from the previous year. RESULTS: Seventeen patients died from hospital-acquired heat stroke (19% of all hospital deaths). This condition accounted for a 25% increase in hospital mortality over the same period during 2002. COMMENT: Hospital-acquired heat stroke appears to be a nosocomial disease that was responsible for an overall increase in hospital mortality during the 2003 heat wave.

Language: fr