Experience in Using the Factor Analysis of Laboratory Homeostatic Parameters in Patients Poisoned by Cauterizing Liquids

Abstract

Objective: to use the factor analysis of laboratory and clinical signs in patients poisoned by cauterizing liquid to evaluate a response to chemical injury. Subjects and methods. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) was studied in 130 patients aged 15 to 82 years who were treated at the Toxicological Unit, Voronezh Regional Hospital, and at the Center for Acute Intoxication Treatment, N. V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Care, Moscow, for intoxication with cauterizing liquids. The parameters of general and biochemical blood analyses, the level of free plasma hemoglobin, and the blood and urinary concentrations of ethanol were analyzed. Results. The factorization of signs divided the symptom complex into 6 factors; the first four of them being of the greatest importance. Conclusion. The studies have indicated that an adequate ANS response is of initial and major value in the prediction of poisoning with cauterants. Key words: factor analysis, factorization of signs, cauterizing liquids, autonomic nervous system.