Title: Lower serum chloride concentrations are associated with increased risk of mortality in
critically ill cirrhotic patients: an analysis of the MIMIC-III database
Version: 3 Date: 24 Mar 2021
Reviewer's report:
Some comments are listed as follows.
1. In the Methods section, the description of the exclusion criteria is inconsistent with that in
Figure 1, please modify. In addition, the unit "mEq/dL" of serum chloride seems to be wrong.
2. In the Table 2, when a variable is meaningless in the univariable logistic analysis, it should
not be included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis.
3. In the Results section, there are some questions about the results of Chloride and sodium serum
levels. First, the description of the comparison between groups is very confusing, please modify.
According to your Figure 3, from left to right, there are patients with neither hyponatremia
nor hypochloremia, patients with hyponatremia, patients with hypochloremia, and patients with
hypochloremia combined with hyponatremia. The grouping of patients in the paragraph does
not correspond to the Figure 3. Second, the author said that the difference in mortality between
groups is statistically significant, but the P-value is not mentioned in the Figure 3 and the paper.
Third, the comparison between the two groups should be “vs.” not “vs”.
4. In the Discussion section, the description of “In decompensated cirrhotic patients in the ICU (n
= 389), Sumarsono et al. [18] found that serum chloride levels were independently and inversely
associated with 180-day mortality, but serum sodium levels were not associated with 180-day
mortality after adjustment for other variables.” may be a bit messy.
5. In the Discussion section, the description of the article language needs to be improved, such
as the continuous use of "however", which makes people difficult to understand.
Title: Lower serum chloride concentrations are associated with increased risk of mortality in
critically ill cirrhotic patients: an analysis of the MIMIC-III database
Version: 3 Date: 24 Mar 2021
Reviewer's report:
Some comments are listed as follows.
1. In the Methods section, the description of the exclusion criteria is inconsistent with that in
Figure 1, please modify. In addition, the unit "mEq/dL" of serum chloride seems to be wrong.
2. In the Table 2, when a variable is meaningless in the univariable logistic analysis, it should
not be included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis.
3. In the Results section, there are some questions about the results of Chloride and sodium serum
levels. First, the description of the comparison between groups is very confusing, please modify.
According to your Figure 3, from left to right, there are patients with neither hyponatremia
nor hypochloremia, patients with hyponatremia, patients with hypochloremia, and patients with
hypochloremia combined with hyponatremia. The grouping of patients in the paragraph does
not correspond to the Figure 3. Second, the author said that the difference in mortality between
groups is statistically significant, but the P-value is not mentioned in the Figure 3 and the paper.
Third, the comparison between the two groups should be “vs.” not “vs”.
4. In the Discussion section, the description of “In decompensated cirrhotic patients in the ICU (n
= 389), Sumarsono et al. [18] found that serum chloride levels were independently and inversely
associated with 180-day mortality, but serum sodium levels were not associated with 180-day
mortality after adjustment for other variables.” may be a bit messy.
5. In the Discussion section, the description of the article language needs to be improved, such
as the continuous use of "however", which makes people difficult to understand.
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Lower serum chloride concentrations are associated with increased risk of mortality in
critically ill cirrhotic patients: an analysis of the MIMIC-III database
Version: 3 Date: 24 Mar 2021
Reviewer's report:
Some comments are listed as follows.
1. In the Methods section, the description of the exclusion criteria is inconsistent with that in
Figure 1, please modify. In addition, the unit "mEq/dL" of serum chloride seems to be wrong.
2. In the Table 2, when a variable is meaningless in the univariable logistic analysis, it should
not be included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis.
3. In the Results section, there are some questions about the results of Chloride and sodium serum
levels. First, the description of the comparison between groups is very confusing, please modify.
According to your Figure 3, from left to right, there are patients with neither hyponatremia
nor hypochloremia, patients with hyponatremia, patients with hypochloremia, and patients with
hypochloremia combined with hyponatremia. The grouping of patients in the paragraph does
not correspond to the Figure 3. Second, the author said that the difference in mortality between
groups is statistically significant, but the P-value is not mentioned in the Figure 3 and the paper.
Third, the comparison between the two groups should be “vs.” not “vs”.
4. In the Discussion section, the description of “In decompensated cirrhotic patients in the ICU (n
= 389), Sumarsono et al. [18] found that serum chloride levels were independently and inversely
associated with 180-day mortality, but serum sodium levels were not associated with 180-day
mortality after adjustment for other variables.” may be a bit messy.
5. In the Discussion section, the description of the article language needs to be improved, such
as the continuous use of "however", which makes people difficult to understand.
assistant