Key http://www.selleckchem.com/products/CP-690550.html messages? Almost half of all patients with septic shock develop new-onset AF.? New-onset AF in septic shock patients is associated with increased ICU length of stay among surviving patients.? Septic shock patients with new-onset AF demonstrate a higher maximum SOFA score during ICU stay compared with those with maintained SR.? Increasing CRP levels before onset of AF support the hypothesis that inflammation is an important trigger for the development of AF.? Failure to restore SR in critically ill patients is associated with an increased mortality.AbbreviationsAF: atrial fibrillation; CRP: C-reactive protein; SAPS: Simplified Acute Physiologic Score; SOFA: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment; SR: sinus rhythm.Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributionsRM contributed to design, data acquisition, statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. CE contributed to data acquisition and drafted the manuscript. ES contributed to data acquisition, data analysis and presentation. MW contributed to data analysis and manuscript drafting. SV participated in data acquisition and statistical analysis. DB performed the long-term follow-up. AG contributed to data analysis and manuscript drafting. MG contributed to study design and manuscript drafting. WS contributed to data acquisition; statistical analysis and manuscript drafting. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.NotesSee related commentary by Seguin and Launey, http://ccforum.com/content/14/4/182AcknowledgementsWe thank Mr Henning Leesch, medical documentation specialist, for his excellent assistance in data acquisition.

The assessment of disease severity and prediction of outcome in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) and, in particular, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), is essential for the appropriate allocation of health care resources and for optimized treatment decisions. These include hospital or intensive care unit admission, the extent of diagnostic work-up, the choice and route of antimicrobial agents and the evaluation for early discharge. In an attempt to optimize and lower unnecessary hospital admission rates, professional organizations have developed prediction rules and propagated guidelines to stratify patients with CAP based on predicted risks for mortality [1-3]. The pneumonia severity index (PSI) is a well validated scoring system in North America based on 19 prognostic parameters [4]. The CURB65 score, a more simplified assessment tool developed by the British Thoracic Society, focuses on only five predictors [5,6]. This score is easier to Drug_discovery calculate, but has a lower prognostic accuracy. Both risk scores were validated for the prediction of mortality only.