Main description:

Most patients with critical cardiac or thoracic conditions will at some stage pass through the cardiothoracic critical care unit. Critical care presents more complex clinical data than any other area of medicine. Continuous monitoring makes diagnosis easy and further information can be easily obtained via a variety of diagnostic tools. Core Topics in Cardiothoracic Critical Care will guide clinicians from all disciplines in the management of cardiothoracic patients, demystifying the critical care unit and providing the key knowledge in a concise and accessible manner. The central section is a detailed discussion of the management of each physiologic system; additional sections cover admission, general considerations in cardiothoracic critical care, procedure-specific care, discharge and follow-up, structure and organization of the unit, and ethical and legal issues. All aspects of the overall care of the critically ill cardiothoracic patient are explained concisely and comprehensively by experts in the field.

Contents:

Foreword A. M. Batchelor; Preface; Abbreviations; Section 1. Admission to critical care; Section 2. General considerations in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3. System management in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-1. Cardiovascular system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-2. Respiratory system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-3. Renal system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-4. Haematology and transfusion in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-5. Gastro-intestinal system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-6. Immune system and infection in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-7. Endrocrine system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 3-8. Neurological system in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 4. Procedure specific care in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 5. Discharge and follow up from cardiothoracic critical care; Section 6. Structure and organisation in cardiothoracic critical care; Section 7. Ethics, legal issues and research in cardiothoracic critical care; Index.