Critical Care of Children with Heart Disease

Pediatric cardiac intensive care patients pose special challenges to those practitioners caring for them. Many issues may be encountered when caring for children in a cardiac intensive care setting, which will significantly influence the management of these patients.

Critical Care of Children with Heart Disease provides the physician with an overview of both the medical and surgical facets of caring for pediatric patients with congenital or acquired cardiac disease. It covers the general aspects of pediatric intensive care ranging from mechanical ventilation and cardiac anesthesia, sedation and pain management, to cardiopulmonary bypass, cardiac catheterization, echocardiography, in addition to describing the special monitoring required for pediatric cardiac patients. It also includes important recent developments in assessing and reporting risk factors. Specific cardiac anomalies, including acyanotic defects, right and left obstructive heart lesions, atrio-ventricular valve anomalies, pulmonary hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and other complex heart defects, are also addressed, while mechanical assistance, renal replacement therapy, transplant, arrhythmias, as well as the ethical and legal issues involving the discontinuation of support of patients are also covered in detail.

The internationally renowned Editorial board have assembled a distinguished panel of contributors to write this valuable teaching and learning resource. It will be of great value to all physicians involved in the management of pediatric cardiac intensive care patients including cardiac intensivists, surgeons, fellows, residents and nurses.