We thank all ICU-CardioMan Investigators (also listed in Additional file 5: Table a4) for their substantial contribution to acquisition of data. Further, we would like to thank Wikhart Reip, MD, for his strong support regarding the electronic data management.
The following persons participated in the study as part of the ICU-CardioMan Investigators:
Gerd Werner Albuszies, Ruesselsheim, Germany
Rudolf Alexi, Bad Arolsen, Germany
Andreas Bauer, Munich, Germany
Stefan Bergt, Rostock, Germany
Ralph Berroth, Ludwigsburg, Germany
Frank Bloos, Jena, Germany
Hendrick Bracht, Ulm, Germany
Patrick Brass, Krefeld, Germany
Dirk Breukelmann, Hagen, Germany
Andreas Brunauer, Salzburg, Austria
Matthias Burghardt, Dresden, Germany
Michael Christ, Nuremberg, Germany
Beatrix Dietrich, Augsburg, Germany
Christian Diwok, Rostock, Germany
Christian Dohmen, Cologne, Germany
Michael Dueck, Eschweiler, Germany
Ingolf Eichler, Dortmund, Germany
Joerg Engel, Wetzlar, Germany
Regula Erb, Baden, Switzerland
Florian Eyer, Munich, Germany
Andreas Faltlhauser, Weiden in der Oberpfalz, Germany
Florian Feld, Aachen, Germany
Ann Kristin Fricke, Oldenburg, Germany
Bernd Fröhmert, Hamburg, Germany
Wolfgang Funk, Amberg, Germany
Harald Genzwuerker, Buchen, Germany
Hans-Ulrich Giesen, Solingen, Germany
Hans-Hinrich Grafelmann, Wittmund, Germany
Joachim Grosse, Wesel, Germany
Marco Gruss, Hanau, Germany
Christoph Gussone, Bochum, Germany
Hendrik Haake, Moenchengladbach, Germany
Markus Heim, Munich, Germany
Anke Heinemann, Moenchengladbach, Germany
Michael Henrich, Giessen, Germany
Holger Herff, Cologne, Germany
Guido Hermanns, Uberlingen, Germany
Klaus Hofmann-Kiefer, Munich, Germany
Andreas Hohn, Bochum, Germany
Frauke Honig, Hannover, Germany
Tobias Huebner, Uberlingen, Switzerland
Tobias Hueppe, Luenen, Germany
Nadine Huelpuesch, Lahr/Schwarzwald, Germany
Judith Ibba, Moenchengladbach, Germany
Ricarda Ibscher, Potsdam, Germany
Michael Irlbeck, Munich, Germany
Johannes Kalbhenn, Freiburg, Germany
Barbara Kapfer, Munich, Germany
Ines Kaufmann, Munich, Germany
Thomas Kirschning, Mannheim, Germany
Stephan F. Kloesel, Ruesselsheim, Germany
Karin Kobusch, Hannover, Germany
Matthias Kochanek, Cologne, Germany
Alf Kozian, Magdeburg, Germany
Oliver Krull, Stendal, Germany
Thomas Kuhl, Krefeld, Germany
Simone Lindau, Frankfurt, Germany
Ingo Lorenz, Innsbruck, Austria
Stefan Maisch, Hamburg, Germany
Gernot Marx, Aachen, Germany
Thomas Marx, Munich, Germany
Onnen Moerer, Goettingen, Germany
Benjamin Moser, Cologne, Germany
Ulrike Mueller, Leipzig, Germany
Stefan Nicolas, Krefeld, Germany
Ludwig Ney, Munich, Germany
Andreas Niedeggen Eschweiler, Germany
Stefan Otto, Saarlouis, Germany
Kevin Pilarczyk, Essen, Germany
Matthias Popp, Freital, Germany
Christian Putensen, Bonn, Germany
Ralf Quabach, Solingen, Germany
Maximilian Ragaller, Dresden, Germany
Axel Ramminger, Berlin, Germany
Stefan Rasche, Dresden, Germany
Sebastian Rehberg, Muenster, Germany
Marcus H. T. Reinges, Giessen, Germany
Reimer Riessen, Tuebingen, Germany
Knut-Age Roehrich, Leipzig, Germany
Rainer Roehrig, Giessen, Germany
Jan P. Roesner, Rostock, Germany
Heiner Ruschulte, Hannover, Germany
Samir G. Sakka, Cologne, Germany
Alexander Schellhaass, Heidelberg, Germany
Jens-Christian Schewe, Bonn, Germany
Ingo Schirotzek, Giessen, Germany
Jörn V. Schley, Hamburg, Germany
Alexander Schmitt, Völklingen, Germany
Martin Schott, Hannover, Germany
Patrick Schramm, Mainz, Germany
Stefan Schroeder, Dueren, Germany
Jan-Karl Schuette, Dueren, Germany
Alexander Schuld, Fulda, Germany
Konrad Schwarzkopf, Saarbrucken, Germany
Julia Seiler, Ingolstadt, Germany
Sixten Selleng, Greifswald, Germany
Philipp Simon, Leipzig, Germany
Kornel Skitek, Cottbus, Germany
Jens Soukup, Cottbus, Germany
Markus Stephan, Stuttgart, Germany
Henning Stetefeld, Cologne, Germany
Klaudiusz Suchodolski, Hannover, Germany
Stefan Toennies, Marl, Germany
Georg Trummer, Freiburg, Germany
Michael Wattenberg, Bremen, Germany
Stefan P. Wirtz, Bad Saarow, Germany
Hermann Wrigge, Leipzig, Germany
Christian Wunder, Wuerzburg, Germany
Cagatay Yildirim, Marburg, Germany
Kai Zacharowski, Frankfurt aM, Germany
Alexander Zarbock, Muenster, Germany
York Zausig, Regensburg, Germany
Michael Zoller, Munich, Germany