The Prognostic Value of Brain Dysfunction in Critically Ill Patients with and without Sepsis: A Post Hoc Analysis of the ICON Audit

Brain dysfunction is associated with poor outcome in critically ill patients. In a post hoc analysis of the Intensive Care over Nations (ICON) database, we investigated the effect of brain dysfunction on hospital mortality in critically ill patients. Brain failure was defined as a neurological sequential organ failure assessment (nSOFA) score of 3-4, based on the assumed Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. Multivariable analyses were performed to assess the independent roles of nSOFA and change in nSOFA from admission to day 3 (ΔnSOFA) for predicting hospital mortality. Data from 7192 (2096 septic and 5096 non-septic) patients were analyzed. Septic patients were more likely than non-septic patients to have brain failure on admission (434/2095 (21%) vs. 617/4665 (13%), p < 0.001) and during the ICU stay (625/2063 (30%) vs. 736/4665 (16%), p < 0.001). The presence of sepsis (RR 1.66 (1.31-2.09)), brain failure (RR 4.85 (3.33-7.07)), and both together (RR 5.61 (3.93-8.00)) were associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death, but nSOFA was not. In the 3280 (46%) patients in whom ΔnSOFA was available, sepsis (RR 2.42 (1.62-3.60)), brain function deterioration (RR 6.97 (3.71-13.08)), and the two together (RR 10.24 (5.93-17.67)) were associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death, whereas improvement in brain function was not.