Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Abrupt termination of vitamin C from ICU patients may increase mortality: secondary analysis of the LOVIT trial.

BACKGROUND: The LOVIT trial examined the effect of vitamin C on sepsis patients, and concluded that in adults with sepsis receiving vasopressor therapy in the ICU, those who received 4-day intravenous vitamin C had a higher risk of death or persistent organ dysfunction at 28 days than those who received placebo. The aim of this study was to determine whether the abrupt termination of vitamin C administration could explain the increased mortality in the vitamin C group.

METHODS: We used Cox regression with two time periods to model the distribution of deaths over the first 11 days in the LOVIT trial.

RESULTS: Compared with a uniform difference between vitamin C and placebo groups over the 11-day follow-up period, addition of a separate vitamin C effect starting from day 5 improved the fit of the Cox model (p = 0.026). There was no difference in mortality between the groups during the 4-day vitamin C administration with RR = 0.97 (95% CI: 0.65-1.44). During the week after the sudden termination of vitamin C, there were 57 deaths in the vitamin C group, but only 32 deaths in the placebo group, with RR = 1.9 (95% CI: 1.2-2.9; p = 0.004).

CONCLUSION: The increased mortality in the vitamin C group in the LOVIT trial is not explained by ongoing vitamin C administration, but by the abrupt termination of vitamin C. The LOVIT trial findings should not be interpreted as evidence against vitamin C therapy for critically ill patients.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app