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Semin Respir Crit Care Med 2013; 34(02): 216-222
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1342984
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Cognitive Impairment after Critical Illness: Etiologies, Risk Factors, and Future Directions

James C. Jackson
1   Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
2   Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
,
E. Wesley Ely
1   Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
2   Center for Health Services Research, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

Publication Date:
28 May 2013 (online)

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Abstract

Mortality rates have declined substantially among critically ill populations in recent years, resulting in increasing numbers of individuals with significant physical, cognitive, and psychiatric morbidities due to the effects of their illness. A consensus has begun to develop regarding the nature of the difficulties experienced by intensive care unit (ICU) survivors, including physical, cognitive, and psychiatric decrements. This article focuses primarily on wide-ranging aspects of cognition and discusses potential mechanisms, risk factors, and recovery and rehabilitation of post-ICU cognitive impairment.

Keywords

brain injury - cognitive impairment - memory - executive dysfunction - critical illness - dementia
 

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