Among patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia being treated in the ICU, those who received hydrocortisone had a lower risk of death by day 28 than those who received placebo.

A total of 800 patients had undergone randomization when the trial was stopped after the second planned interim analysis.

Data from 795 patients were analyzed. By day 28, death had occurred in 25 of 400 patients in the hydrocortisone group and in 47 of 395 patients in the placebo group.

Among the patients who were not undergoing mechanical ventilation at baseline, endotracheal intubation was performed in 40 of 222 (18.0%) in the hydrocortisone group and in 65 of 220 (29.5%) in the placebo group.

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