Tion in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Noveanu et al. Critical Care 2010, 14:R198 http://ccforum.com/content/14/6/RPage 2 ofthat respiratory failure in one-third of ICU patients is multi-causal [15]. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to assess in-hospital and one-year mortality in a cohort of consecutive ICU patients with acute respiratory failure indifferent of underlying etiology. We specifically determined the independent predictors of in-hospital and one-year mortality and assessed the impact of betablocker at admission and/or at discharge on outcome.staff in charge following the current guidelines of the respective hospital. The study included 314 ICU patients with acute respiratory failure. A one-year follow-up, assessed by telephone interview of the patients, their family or the referring physician, was completed in 311 (99.3 ) of patients representing our study population.Statistical analysisMaterials and methodsSetting and study populationThis report is a sub-study of the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for Acute Shortness of Breath Evaluation (BASEL) II-ICU trial [15]. The goal of the BASEL II-ICU trial was to evaluate impact of a BNP-guided management strategy on outcome (hospital length of stay and costs) in ICU patients with acute respiratory failure. The BASEL II-ICU trial was a prospective, randomized, controlled, singleblinded multicenter study. Patients were enrolled in seven ICUs (one order ACY 241 medical and one surgical ICU of a primary care facility and five interdisciplinary ICUs PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26577270 of tertiary referral hospitals) in Switzerland from December 2004 to March 2007. The study was carried out according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the ethical committee responsible for each hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from patients or their surrogate. Details regarding study design has been published elsewhere [15]. In brief, patients presenting with acute respiratory failure severe enough to require ICU monitoring and treatment were randomized into one of two different diagnostic strategy groups. One of these groups included admission BNP value in addition to standard diagnostic workup (BNP group), while the other group did not have BNP values (control group). Important exclusion criteria of the BASEL II-ICU trial were an obvious trauma, a BNP measurement within the preceding six hours, severe renal disease (serum creatinine >250 mol/L), more than 12 hours since the eligibility criteria in the ICU were met, sepsis, cardiopulmonary resuscitation within 12 hours or shock. The adjudicated diagnosis, used in the present study, was performed by two ICU specialists on the basis of all available medical records, the response to therapy and autopsy results in those patients who died in the hospital. Adjudicated diagnosis was performed by choosing one or more diagnoses from a pre-specified list that included the following items: HF, pneumonia, AECOPD/Asthma, pulmonary embolism (PE), atelectasis, mechanical airway obstruction, pneumothorax, other or unknown. The study protocol of the BASEL II-ICU study had no influence on mechanical ventilation or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) therapy. The decision about medical treatment including NIV or mechanical intubation was made solely by the ICUThe statistical analyses were performed with the use of the SPSS/PC software package (version 15.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Comparisons were made using the t-test, Mann-Whitney U.