Organ dysfunction is a condition where an
organ does not perform its expected function. Organ failure is organ dysfunction to such a degree that normal
homeostasis
In biology, homeostasis (British English, British also homoeostasis) Help:IPA/English, (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physics, physical, and chemistry, chemical conditions maintained by organism, living systems. Thi ...
cannot be maintained without external clinical intervention.
It is not a diagnosis. It can be classified by the cause, but when the cause is not known, it can also be classified by whether the onset is
chronic or
acute
Acute may refer to:
Science and technology
* Acute angle
** Acute triangle
** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology
* Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset.
** Acute toxicity, the adverse eff ...
.
Multiple organ failure
Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis.
Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple organ failure" or "multisy ...
can be associated with
sepsis
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
and is often fatal. Countries such as Spain, have shown a rise in mortality risk, due to a large elderly population there.
However, there are tools physicians use when diagnosing multiple organ failure and when prognosing the outcome. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score
uses early lab values in a patient's hospitalization (within 24 hours) to predict fatal outcomes for a patient.
References
External links
Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) Score
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