Table 1 Summary of demography and baseline characteristics

Age (Years), Mean (SD)

62.9 (15.58)

67.9 (13.66)

58.7 (15.92)

 < .01*

59.0 (17.24)

63.7 (12.69)

54.4 (19.85)

0.90^

Gender – Male, n (%)

193 ( 63.5)

93 ( 66.4)

100 ( 61.0)

0.32^^

86 ( 66.7)

47 ( 73.4)

39 ( 60.0)

0.10^^

APACHE II score, Median (Q1,Q3)

15.0 (10.00, 25.00)

20.0 (15.00, 31.00)

12.0 (8.00, 17.00)

 < .01*

15.0 (9.00, 25.00)

17.0 (11.00, 25.00)

12.0 (8.00, 21.00)

0.62^

Early use of Dexamethasone within 24 h, n (%)

187 ( 61.1)

87 ( 61.3)

100 ( 61.0)

0.95^^

76 ( 58.5)

37 ( 56.9)

39 ( 60.0)

0.72^^

Early use of Tocilizumab within 24 h, n (%)

77 ( 25.2)

29 ( 20.4)

48 ( 29.3)

0.07^^

28 ( 21.5)

14 ( 21.5)

14 ( 21.5)

 > 0.99^^

Proning at admission, n (%)

68 ( 23.1)

24 ( 17.8)

44 ( 27.7)

0.04^^

29 ( 23.0)

13 ( 21.3)

16 ( 24.6)

0.65^^

Serum creatinine (mmol/L) at admission, Median (Q1,Q3)

93.0 (69.00, 161.00)

162.0 (113.50, 276.00)

72.0 (61.00, 88.00)

 < .01*

98.0 (69.00, 135.00)

128.5 (97.00, 167.50)

74.0 (63.00, 100.00)

0.02*

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) (mmol/l) at admission, Median (Q1,Q3)

8.1 (5.20, 15.10)

14.7 (9.00, 22.30)

5.7 (4.20, 8.10)

 < .01*

7.9 (5.10, 13.10)

10.6 (6.70, 15.90)

6.0 (4.30, 8.69)

 < .01*

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) within 24 h of ICU admission, n (%)

99 ( 32.8)

82 ( 57.7)

17 ( 10.6)

 < .01^^

45 ( 34.6)

30 ( 46.2)

15 ( 23.1)

0.08^^

Lowest PaO2/FiO2 ratio within 24 h of ICU admission, Median (Q1,Q3)

85.0 (60.62, 151.40)

85.0 (59.87, 146.20)

85.5 (62.25, 157.70)

0.56^

86.5 (64.77, 165.70)

85.0 (56.00, 144.00)

97.8 (68.90, 202.50)

0.08^

Highest FIO2 requirement (%) at admission, Median (Q1,Q3)

70.0 (45.00, 90.00)

72.5 (50.00, 100.00)

70.0 (40.00, 90.00)

0.20^

70.0 (45.00, 95.00)

70.0 (50.00, 100.00)

65.0 (40.00, 90.00)

0.19^

Vasoactive Inotropic Score, Mean (SD)

8.4 (46.83)

14.7 (58.97)

3.2 (32.97)

0.05*

6.0 (37.58)

4.5 (12.48)

7.5 (51.64)

0.08^

Lactic acid baseline (mmol/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

1.7 (1.32, 2.48)

1.9 (1.31, 2.61)

1.6 (1.33, 2.11)

0.03^

1.6 (1.30, 2.60)

1.9 (1.35, 2.67)

1.6 (1.30, 2.30)

0.16^

Platelets count baseline (10^9/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

252.0 (185.00, 323.00)

260.0 (184.00, 320.00)

242.0 (188.00, 326.00)

0.64^

260.5 (190.50, 330.50)

260.0 (184.00, 310.00)

264.0 (199.00, 354.00)

0.50^

International Normalized Ratio (INR), Median (Q1,Q3)

1.1 (1.00, 1.20)

1.1 (1.00, 1.23)

1.1 (1.00, 1.19)

0.34^

1.1 (1.00, 1.20)

1.0 (1.00, 1.21)

1.1 (1.02, 1.19)

0.43^

Activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) baseline (Seconds), Median (Q1,Q3)

29.7 (26.40, 33.60)

29.9 (26.70, 34.50)

29.0 (26.00, 32.20)

0.05^

30.0 (26.70, 34.40)

29.9 (26.40, 33.40)

30.1 (26.70, 34.50)

0.86^

Total bilirubin (umol/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

9.4 (6.70, 13.00)

9.3 (6.10, 13.10)

9.4 (6.80, 12.60)

0.58^

9.1 (6.20, 13.00)

9.6 (6.10, 13.00)

8.9 (6.70, 12.80)

0.95^

Alanine transaminase (ALT) at admission (U/L), Median (Q1,Q3)

36.0 (24.00, 55.00)

35.5 (24.00, 61.00)

36.0 (25.00, 50.00)

0.85^

36.0 (25.00, 55.00)

36.5 (26.00, 61.00)

34.0 (23.00, 47.00)

0.37^

Aspartate transaminase (AST) at admission (U/L), Median (Q1,Q3)

50.0 (33.00, 72.50)

52.0 (34.00, 75.00)

50.0 (32.00, 70.00)

0.31^

50.0 (31.00, 74.00)

53.0 (37.00, 73.00)

41.0 (28.00, 77.00)

0.16^

^

Albumin baseline (gm/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

33.0 (29.00, 36.00)

33.0 (28.00, 36.00)

33.0 (29.00, 36.80)

0.55^

33.0 (29.00, 36.50)

33.0 (29.00, 36.40)

33.0 (29.00, 37.00)

0.95*

C-reactive protein (CRP) baseline (mg/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

130.0 (73.00, 197.00)

138.5 (81.50, 202.00)

119.0 (64.43, 182.00)

0.11^

82.0 (37.00, 149.00)

82.0 (62.00, 143.00)

84.0 (22.90, 170.00)

0.61^

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) baseline (mm/hr), Median (Q1,Q3)

68.0 (41.00, 98.50)

70.0 (43.00, 107.00)

66.0 (35.00, 92.00)

0.32*

66.0 (40.00, 107.00)

79.5 (45.00, 108.00)

54.0 (24.00, 88.50)

0.14*

Fibrinogen level baseline (gm/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

5.2 (3.66, 7.37)

5.3 (3.84, 7.22)

5.2 (2.87, 7.56)

0.59*

5.3 (3.27, 7.45)

6.0 (4.03, 7.37)

4.6 (2.60, 7.53)

0.15*

D-dimer level baseline (mg/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

1.2 (0.75, 3.40)

2.0 (0.93, 5.12)

1.0 (0.63, 2.08)

0.01^

1.2 (0.68, 3.54)

1.6 (0.82, 4.06)

1.0 (0.57, 2.37)

0.83^

Ferritin level baseline (ug/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

797.9 (359.60, 1587.50)

997.7 (456.50, 2047.00)

709.8 (306.20, 1452.00)

0.04^

734.9 (336.60, 1539.00)

823.5 (419.35, 1593.50)

693.7 (267.20, 1472.50)

0.33^

Blood glucose level baseline  (mmol/l), Median (Q1,Q3)

10.8 (7.80, 15.65)

11.8 (8.00, 16.50)

10.0 (7.40, 14.30)

0.06^

11.0 (8.30, 16.10)

12.8 (8.50, 16.80)

10.7 (8.03, 14.30)

0.31^

Highest heart rate (HR) at admission (BPM), Median (Q1,Q3)

103.0 (90.00, 114.00)

104.0 (91.00, 119.00)

101.0 (89.00, 111.00)

0.08^

104.0 (91.00, 115.00)

103.0 (90.00, 118.00)

104.0 (93.50, 114.50)

0.93^

Maximum body temperature baseline (°C), Median (Q1,Q3)

37.3 (37.00, 38.00)

37.4 (37.00, 38.00)

37.3 (37.00, 37.90)

0.26^

37.3 (37.00, 38.00)

37.4 (37.00, 38.30)

37.3 (36.90, 37.85)

0.09^

Aspirin use during ICU stay, n (%)

84 ( 27.5)

55 ( 38.7)

29 ( 17.7)

 < .01^^

32 ( 24.6)

22 ( 33.8)

10 ( 15.4)

0.01^^

History of Bleeding within 6 months prior ICU admission, n (%)

1 ( 0.3)

0 ( 0.0)

1 ( 0.6)

0.35**

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

NA

Patient received nephrotoxic drugs/material during ICU stay, n (%)^a

236 ( 78.4)

122 ( 87.8)

114 ( 70.4)

<0.01^^

100 ( 78.1)

54 ( 85.7)

46 ( 70.8)

0.04^^

Comorbidity, n (%)

Atrial fibrillation (A Fib)

14 ( 4.6)

10 ( 7.0)

4 ( 2.4)

0.05^^

6 ( 4.6)

4 ( 6.2)

2 ( 3.1)

0.40**

Hypertension

185 ( 60.5)

107 ( 75.4)

78 ( 47.6)

 < .01^^

75 ( 57.7)

45 ( 69.2)

30 ( 46.2)

0.007^^

Diabetes Mellitus

201 ( 65.7)

106 ( 74.6)

95 ( 57.9)

0.002^^

83 ( 63.8)

43 ( 66.2)

40 ( 61.5)

0.58^^

Dyslipidemia

73 ( 23.9)

37 ( 26.1)

36 ( 22.0)

0.40^^

21 ( 16.2)

11 ( 16.9)

10 ( 15.4)

0.81^^

Chronic kidney disease (CKD)

53 ( 17.3)

51 ( 35.9)

2 ( 1.2)

 < .01^^

5 ( 3.8)

3 ( 4.6)

2 ( 3.1)

0.64**

Cancer

12 ( 3.9)

3 ( 2.1)

9 ( 5.5)

0.12^^

3 ( 2.3)

2 ( 3.1)

1 ( 1.5)

0.55**

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

NA

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

NA

Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

1 ( 0.3)

1 ( 0.7)

0 ( 0.0)

0.28**

1 ( 0.8)

1 ( 1.5)

0 ( 0.0)

0.31**

Liver disease (any type)

6 ( 2.0)

3 ( 2.1)

3 ( 1.8)

0.85**

3 ( 2.3)

2 ( 3.1)

1 ( 1.5)

0.55**

Stroke

26 ( 8.5)

12 ( 8.5)

14 ( 8.5)

0.97^^

8 ( 6.2)

3 ( 4.6)

5 ( 7.7)

0.46**