Background: Detailed analyses on crush syndrome resulting from earthquakes is scarce. This study aimed to analyze the effect of gender on clinical course of the renal victims of the catastrophic Marmara earthquake that struck Northwestern Turkey in 1999.
Methods: Questionnaires were prepared within the first week of disaster and sent to 35 reference hospitals that treated the victims. Relationship between gender and various epidemiological, clinical, laboratory parameters, treatment modalities and outcome was then investigated.
Results: Of the 639 victims with renal dysfunction, 348 (54%) were males and 291 (46%) females. Mean age was 33 +/- 14 and 31 +/- 15 years in the male and female victims, respectively. At admission, males were characterized by a higher hematocrit and higher serum levels of creatinine, BUN, potassium and phosphorus, while other clinical and laboratory parameters as well as the number of fasciotomized and amputated extremities did not differ between the two genders. Males suffered from longer periods of oliguria, higher rates of sepsis and hypertension. 77.3% of the male patients needed dialysis support as compared to 71.5% in the females. The number of hemodialysis sessions and days for dialysis support were higher in the males. Last serum creatinine before discharge from the nephrology clinics was higher in male victims, while mortality rates were similar in both genders.
Conclusion: Although males are characterized by more severe laboratory abnormalities of rhabdomyolysis, more frequently suffer from sepsis and need more intensive dialysis support, gender is not a prognostic indicator of final outcome in the renal victims of disasters.