Today is the inaugural World Delirium Day, created to raise delirium awareness and inspire positive action among health care providers.

High levels of blood markers for vascular endothelial dysfunction were associated with longer periods of confusion in ICU patients, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

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

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe enter their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but often leave with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that persist for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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.