FDA Highlights: Statin therapy cuts delirium in critically ill patients

by Bruce Sylvester: Ongoing statin treatment appears to prevent delirium in critically ill patients who had taken a statin prior to hospitalization, researchers reported online on Jan. 17, 2014 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“This is the first study using a validated delirium screening tool, the Confusion Assessment Method-ICU (CAM-ICU), to show that the administration of statins reduces delirium in these patients,” said lead author Valerie Page, MB ChB, of the Watford General Hospital in Watford, UK. “This benefit may be mediated by a reduction in systemic inflammation.”

Of the 470 intensive care patients enrolled in the study, 151 received statins.

All 151 statin-treated subjects had received statins prior to admission to the hospital and to the study.

After adjusting for age, sex and severity of illness, administration of statin therapy was associated the next day with a significantly lower risk of delirium and a reduction in serum C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation.

“Although the pathogenesis of delirium is not fully understood, these data are consistent with a neuro-inflammatory cause and suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of statins may contribute to the effects of statin treatment on delirium,” said Dr. Page. “Our study on statin use and the risk of delirium in critically ill subjects included extensive data on a large, broadly representative population of consecutive intensive care patients, increasing its strength. Our findings suggest that statin treatment should be continued to help prevent delirium in critically ill patients who received statins before being admitted,” she added.