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Persistent cognitive impairment, hippocampal atrophy and EEG changes in sepsis survivors
Semmler A, Widmann CN, Okulla T, Urbach H, Kaiser M, Widman G, Mormann F, Weide J et al.. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2012-11-07
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objectives The objective of this preliminary study was to explore long-term changes in neurobehavioral parameters, brain morphology and electroencephalography of sepsis patients who received intensive care compared to non-septic intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods Two-centre follow-up study 6-24 months after discharge from hospital using published norms and existing databases of healthy controls for comparison. Patients included 25 septic and 19 non-septic ICU survivors who were recruited from two ICUs of a university and community hospital. Measurements used include brain morphology, standard electroencephalography, cognition and psychiatric health and health-related quality of life. Results Sepsis survivors showed cognitive deficits in verbal learning and memory and had a significant reduction of left hippocampal volume compared to healthy controls. Moreover, sepsis and to some extent non-septic ICU patients had more low-frequency activity in the EEG indicating unspecific brain dysfunction. No differences were found in health-related quality of life, psychological functioning or depressive symptoms, and depression could be ruled out as a confounding factor. Conclusions This study demonstrates permanent cognitive impairment in several domains in both septic and non-septic ICU survivors and unspecific brain dysfunction. In the sepsis group, left-sided hippocampal atrophy was found compared to healthy controls. Further study is needed to clarify what contribution sepsis and other factors at the ICU make to these outcomes. Specific neuroprotective therapies are warranted to prevent persisting brain changes in ICU patients.
Key findings
- Objectives The objective of this preliminary study was to explore long-term changes in neurobehavioral parameters, brain morphology and electroencephalography of sepsis patients who received intensive care compared to non-septic intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
- Results Sepsis survivors showed cognitive deficits in verbal learning and memory and had a significant reduction of left hippocampal volume compared to healthy controls.
- In the sepsis group, left-sided hippocampal atrophy was found compared to healthy controls.
Study details
- Participants25
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 27 of the 61 points we could judge it on, which is 44 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2013 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 25 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 23134661) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 27 / 61 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 27 of the 61 points we could judge it on is 44 out of 100. |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Semmler, A., Widmann, C. N., Okulla, T., Urbach, H., Kaiser, M., Widman, G., et al. (2013). Persistent cognitive impairment, hippocampal atrophy and EEG changes in sepsis survivors. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2012-302883
Vancouver
Semmler A, Widmann CN, Okulla T, Urbach H, Kaiser M, Widman G, et al. Persistent cognitive impairment, hippocampal atrophy and EEG changes in sepsis survivors. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 2013. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2012-302883. PMID: 23134661.
BibTeX
@article{semmler2013-23134661,
author = {Semmler, A. and Widmann, C. N. and Okulla, T. and Urbach, H. and Kaiser, M. and Widman, G. and Mormann, F. and Weide, J. and others},
title = {{Persistent cognitive impairment, hippocampal atrophy and EEG changes in sepsis survivors}},
journal = {Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1136/jnnp-2012-302883},
pmid = {23134661},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2012-302883}
}
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