Physiologic abnormalities at admission to an intensive care unit and development of nonrespiratory organ failure are important predictors of hospital outcome for critically ill patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who have acute respiratory failure. Improved outcome would require prevention and appropriate treatment of sepsis and multiple organ failure.

No abstract

Nighttime admission to our intensive care unit is not associated with a higher mortality rate or a longer hospital or intensive care unit stay compared with daytime admission.