Critical Care Neurology and Neurosurgery

After the success of the first edition of Critical Care Neurology and Neurosurgery, I find myself at the helm of this second delivery of the salient advances in the field of neurocritical care. Since the first edition went into print, two major advances in the field have occurred. The first is the creation of the Neurocritical Care Society (www.neurocriticalcare.org) with a peer-reviewed journal published by Humana Press – Neurocritical Care. The second advance is the availability of a certifying examination and credentialing of training programs in neurocritical care via the United Council of Neurological Subspecialties –UCNS (www.ucns.org). These will certainly solidify the practice of caring for the critically ill neurologic and neurosurgical patient as a separate subspecialty. It is with this excitement that this second edition of this title is launched. The organization and length of this book has been changed to reflect discoveries in the field and to keep pace with significant advances. The book has been divided into three distinct sections following an introductory chapter on the basic definitions and triage of the critically ill neurologic and neurosurgical patient, similar to what was presented in the first edition. The primary market is practicing neurologists, neurosurgeons, and neuroanesthesiologists, in particular those with subspecialty interest in neurocritical care. Other clinicians with an interest in neurocritical care are pulmonologists, internists, general surgeons, and anesthesiologists with a subspecialty in critical care. Also neuroradiologists may find this book interesting and of help for their daily clinical practice. This book could also be translated and marketed in spanish and portuguese – speaking countries. There is no single textbook dedicated to neurocritical care in these two languages. I personally would undertake the translation and editing of those editions. The first section deals with the basic principles of neurocritical care and begins with recommendations for the organization of an up-to-date Neurosciences Critical Care Unit. This section will set the foundations for a good understanding of the complex interactions between the brain and different body systems. A discussion on common bioethical issues as well as clinical trial design and research databases is also presented. The second section encompasses common medical complications of the neurocritically ill patient. This section includes the addition of ten completely new chapters discussing the latest advances on secondary systemic complications. The third section presents chapters on frequent primary neurologic and neurosurgical diagnoses and updated therapeutic strategies. In regard to tables and figures/illustrations, I estimate each chapter will have 6 figures and 4-6 tables. I will encourage authors to use illustrations and will try to work with an illustrationist to maintain uniformity of all the graphs. Figures and graphs will be black and white except for appendices N10-12 like in the first edition. Finally, like the first edition, the book concludes with an appendix of different useful equations, tips, and scales that will become handy when working in the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit. One addition is an appendix summarizing the most frequently cited clinical trials in general and neurocritical care.