The irregular heart rhythm atrial fibrillation increases the risk of death in patients in the intensive care unit.

Depression affects more than one out of three survivors of critical illness, according to a Vanderbilt study released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the majority of patients experience their symptoms physically rather than mentally.

Patients who suffer a longer duration of delirium in the intensive care unit are more likely to experience long-term disability after discharge.

Dysfunction of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels may contribute to delirium and coma in critically ill patients – and could be a target for therapy.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have received a $2.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to continue studying ways to improve sedation management for intensive care unit patients who are on mechanical ventilators.

Study suggests that the “kynurenine” biochemical pathway could be a target for reducing delirium and coma in critically ill patients.