PREFACE

Abstract

Infections in Critical Care is the subject of this issue of Critical Care Clinics. The rationale for this issue is obvious. Infectious diseases are among the most common problems faced by clinicians in critical care units. Most books on critical care emphasize cardiopulmonary aspects of the discipline, but infectious disease problems are not given sufficient consideration.This monograph is designed to provide clinicians with a single source overview of some of the major infectious disease problems encountered in daily critical care practice. The focus of this issue is clinical and is intended for use by clinicians. It is written primarily from an infectious disease perspective which is important because most critical care clinicians and intensivists have been trained as pulmonologists, cardiologists, or anesthetists, with little or no background in infectious disease. Because of this difference in training perspective, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are expectedly different and vary among disciplines depending on background and experience. Hopefully, this issue expresses the infectious disease viewpoint as it applies to infectious and noninfectious disorders occurring in the critical care setting.The contributors to this issue of Critical Care Clinics are infectious disease and critical care clinicians who are recognized experts in their fields. The authors have been selected on the basis of their expertise and ability to convey their perspective and experience lucidly. Critical care clinicians, intensivists in critical care, internists, and subspecialist consultants working in critical care units should find this issue particularly useful in the differential diagnosis and management of infectious diseases and their mimics in the critical care setting. Infections in Critical Care is the subject of this issue of Critical Care Clinics. The rationale for this issue is obvious. Infectious diseases are among the most common problems faced by clinicians in critical care units. Most books on critical care emphasize cardiopulmonary aspects of the discipline, but infectious disease problems are not given sufficient consideration. This monograph is designed to provide clinicians with a single source overview of some of the major infectious disease problems encountered in daily critical care practice. The focus of this issue is clinical and is intended for use by clinicians. It is written primarily from an infectious disease perspective which is important because most critical care clinicians and intensivists have been trained as pulmonologists, cardiologists, or anesthetists, with little or no background in infectious disease. Because of this difference in training perspective, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are expectedly different and vary among disciplines depending on background and experience. Hopefully, this issue expresses the infectious disease viewpoint as it applies to infectious and noninfectious disorders occurring in the critical care setting. The contributors to this issue of Critical Care Clinics are infectious disease and critical care clinicians who are recognized experts in their fields. The authors have been selected on the basis of their expertise and ability to convey their perspective and experience lucidly. Critical care clinicians, intensivists in critical care, internists, and subspecialist consultants working in critical care units should find this issue particularly useful in the differential diagnosis and management of infectious diseases and their mimics in the critical care setting.