Study Limitations
This study has no control group, because the number of
clinical situations is so large that obtaining controls is virtually
impossible. We do acknowledge that this fact limits interpretation
and extrapolation of the data. In addition, the study covers
a long observational period during which therapeutic advances
that occurred in the field were incorporated gradually into the
study protocols. Nevertheless, we believe that this large number
of patients followed in the same institution by the same
team of physicians offers insight into the pathophysiology,
complications, and outcome of these broad clinical problems