Author's reply

摘要

Zhengdong Kong and Zhaofan Xia express doubt as to whether I correctly described the outcome of studies of selenium supplementation in critical illness. I stated that two meta-analyses showed that mortality tended to decrease when patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or septic shock were treated with selenium. This is indeed the case: the first meta-analysis1 showed that, across seven studies (n=l86), selenium supplementation (alone and in combination with other antioxidants) was associated with a trend towards lower mortality (relative risk 0-59, 95% Cl 0-32-1-08; p=0-09), and the second2 showed a similar trend towards reduced overall mortality (risk ratio 0-75, 95% Cl 0-53-1-06) which became significant in patients in general intensive care (075,0-59-0-96).