email article Acute brain dysfunction -- coma or delirium -- occurred frequently and was prolonged in critically ill COVID-19 patients, a large multicenter cohort study showed. Of more than 2,000 COVID-19 ICU patients in 14 countries, 82% were comatose for a median of 10 days, reported Rafael Badenes, MD, PhD, of the University of Valencia in Spain, and co-authors in Lancet Respiratory Medicine. For the 55% showing delirium, the median duration was 3 days. Acute brain dysfunction lasted a median of 12 days, twice what's usually seen with other ICU patients. Benzodiazepine use and family visits were identified as modifiable risk factors for COVID-19 delirium. Prolonged acute brain dysfunction is "a harbinger of bad outcomes," said co-author Wes Ely, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Earlier research has shown that delirium duration is a predictor of mortality, length of stay, cost of care, and acquired dementia, he noted.