Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy: Review of the Neuropsychiatric Manifestations and Cognitive Outcome

• Published in: The journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 237 - 241
• Main Authors: Lamar, Cory D, Hurley, Robin A, Taber, Katherine H, Hayman, L. Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arlington, VA American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc 01.07.2011; American Psychiatric Publishing
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety; Biological and medical sciences; Blood-brain barrier; Brain Diseases - diagnosis; Brain Diseases - etiology; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cognitive ability; Delirium; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Electroencephalography - methods; Hospitalization; Humans; Immune system; Intensive Care Units; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - etiology; Miscellaneous; Morbidity; Mortality; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Older people; Parasympathetic Nervous System - physiopathology; Pathogenesis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sepsis; Sepsis - complications; Sepsis - mortality; Studies; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial; Human; Nervous system diseases; Neuropsychiatry; Clinical form; Cognition; Review; Cerebral disorder; Infection; Sepsis syndrome; Symptomatology; Encephalopathy; Central nervous system disease; Mental disorder
• ISSN: 0895-0172; 1545-7222
• DOI: 10.1176/jnp.23.3.jnp237

Epidemiologic studies indicate that sepsis occurs in approximately 2% of all hospitalizations and may be present in up to 75% of ICU patients.6 The long-term mortality rate after intensive care ranged from 50% to 60%.7 The implementation of the surviving-sepsis guidelines was found to be associated with a significant decrease in mortality, with reports of in-hospital mortality being reduced from 57% to 37.5%.8,9 Although the incidence and mortality rate of sepsis in children are lower than those in adults, sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in children.10 One study found that the presence of encephalopathy with sepsis was associated with a twofold increase in the risk of death.11 Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) is a multifactorial syndrome, characterized as diffuse cerebral dysfunction that results in an abrupt onset of impairment in cognitive functioning in the setting of sepsis. [...] sepsis remains a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality.