Rapid progress in technology and its application to diagnosis and monitoring of brain tissue temperature and metabolism have resulted in advances in the therapy for critically brain-injured patients and breakthroughs in understanding the pathophysiology of brain damage. The latest concept of brain hypothermia therapy clarifies targets such as brain thermal pooling, masking brain hypoxia associated with catecholamine surge, the metabolic shift from glucose to lipids, and selective radical damage of dopamine in the central nervous system. This volume explains the mechanism of brain injury and how brain hypothermia treatment differs from other hypothermia therapy in four major sections: Brain Injury Mechanism, Pathophysiology of Hypothermia, Basic Research of Hypothermia Treatment, and Clinical Studies of Brain Hypothermia. The book is a valuable source for practitioners and researchers in neurosurgery and neurology and in critical care and emergency medicine.

The International Brain Hypothermia Symposium 2004, held in Tokyo, was a forum for many of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians to present and discuss developments on the cutting edge of this most promising of neurological therapies. With a view to sharing this knowledge and encouraging the spread of new techniques, the editors have compiled these proceedings covering the latest technology and methods. Topics include brain thermo-pooling, hemoglobin-dysfunction-associated neuronal hypoxia, intensive care management of brain hypothermia for severely brain-injured patients, new findings not yet recorded in animal models, and control of hypothermia-associated immune crises. Also included are advanced clinical results from trauma, stroke, and cardiac arrest patients. The result is a volume that will be a valuable resource for professionals in the fields of emergency treatment, critical medicine, and neurosurgery.

This book describes the evidence behind the application of Therapeutic Hypothermia on patients with injury to the brain and spinal cord, that includes ischemia reperfusion after cardiac arrest or asphyxiation, traumatic brain injury, acute ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, refractory intracranial hypertension, cerebral edema in acute liver failure, subarachnoid hemorrhage, as well as spinal cord injury. This book discusses the mechanisms by which therapeutic hypothermia can mitigate the pathophysiologies responsible for secondary brain injury, and provides information to help guide this treatment with regard to timing, depth, duration, and management of side-effects. The book also discusses the methods and technologies used to induce and maintain therapeutic hypothermia. It also describes how hypothermia can influence the ability to prognosticate these injured patients and provides grounds for future directions in the application of and research with therapeutic hypothermia.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the multitude of different forms of thermotherapy in connection with aspects of thermal physiology and cell biology. The aim is to elucidate the scientific background of therapeutic actions and to promote effective new applications at the beginning of the 21st century. Significant to these purposes is cooperation between experts in the fields of thermal biology, hyper thermic oncology, rheumatology, and balneology, as represented by the editors. Emphasis has been placed on a balanced choice of contributions, in the hope that this will enable the reader to draw helpful connections between the principles and prac tice of thermotherapy. It is apparent that a wealth of published data exists concerning thermotherapy on the one hand and thermal physiology on the other. However, in the former field empirical aspects of therapeutic usefulness prevail, while in the latter, aspects of basic science are in the foreground. Accordingly, the sources where published data may be found are quite different and as a consequence many findings of potential mutual interest published in medical journals have gone unnoticed by readers of physio logical journals, and vice versa. It is hoped that this book will bridge the gap and encourage researchers' efforts to integrate the available knowledge to attain optimal coordination of clinical and theoretical aspects.

Over the past decade, the hospitalist model has become a dominant system for the delivery of inpatient care. Forces such as national mandates to improve safety and quality, and intense pressure to safely reduce length of hospital stays, are now exerting pressure on neurologists. To meet these challenges, a new neurohospitalist model is emerging. This is the first authoritative text to detail the advances and strategies for treating neurologic disease in a hospital setting. It includes chapters on specific acute neurologic diseases including stroke, epilepsy, neuromuscular disease and traumatic brain injury and also addresses common reasons for neurologic consultation in the hospital including encephalopathy, electrolyte disturbances and neurologic complications of pregnancy. Ethical and structural issues commonly encountered in neurologic inpatients are also addressed. This will be a key resource for any clinician or trainee caring for neurologic patients in the hospital including practising neurologists, internists and trainees across multiple subspecialities.

An introduction to basic and advanced cardiac and trauma life support. This text embodies the principles and practices advocated by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists' Committee on Cardiopulmonary Cerebral Resusitation and Critical Care and incorporates American Heart Association Conference guidelines on CPR and emergency care. Includes complete coverage of resuscitation medicine--basic, advanced and prolonged cardiac and traumatic life support. Approved by the WFSA.

This book offers valuable guidance to neurointensivists, other neurocritical care staff, and those desiring to develop a neurocritical care unit via a thorough discussion of neurological emergencies and neurocritical care unit organization. This comprehensive volume begins with a review of acute neurological emergencies as managed clinically in the neurocritical care unit. Topics include acute cerebrovascular, neurological, and neurosurgical disorders. The unique aspect of this book is its description of the organization of the neurocritical care unit. We focus on how other services in the hospital interact with and assist neurocritical care operations, telemedicine/telestroke, and neurocritical care personnel and their roles. A review of expected outcomes of neurocritical care conditions is also included. Neurointensivists, neurocritical care unit staff leadership, hospital administrators, and those interested in developing a neurocritical care unit will find Neurointensive Care Unit: Clinical Practice and Organization to be an invaluable guide.

Recent breakthroughs in understanding the effectiveness of brain hypothermia treatment have been brought about by rapid progress in experimental gene studies along with new findings in the areas of brain-injury mechanisms, brain thermo-pooling, hemoglobin dysfunction, insulin-resistant hyperglycemia, radical damage involving states of consciousness, management of lipid-dominant metabolism in the intensive care unit (ICU), and management of immune crises under conditions of hypothermia. This book explains the mechanism of brain hypothermia and presents advanced techniques for ICU management of brain hypothermia for critically brain-injured patients. Especially useful for bedside care in the ICU are the easy-reference care-management "cards" in the appendix of the book. Brain Hypothermia Treatment provides a valuable resource and practical guide for professionals in the fields of neurosurgery and emergency and critical care medicine.

Worldwide more than one million babies die annually from perinatal asphyxia and its associated complications such as neonatal encephalopathy - one of the major causes of cerebral palsy and cognitive deficiencies in children aside from prematurity. Cooling the head - or the entire body - minimizes neuronal death, enabling the neonatal brain to be 'rescued' thus greatly improving developmental outcomes. Hypothermic neural rescue therapy has revolutionized the treatment of this condition and is a major recent achievement in neonatal medicine. This landmark book provides a brief scientific underpinning of hypothermic neural rescue therapy and lays out the evidence base for good practice. Internationally recognized authorities give practical advice, drawn from personal experience, on how to deliver hypothermia in the neonatal intensive care unit. A valuable addition to any neonatal unit, this is essential reading for neonatologists, neonatal nurses and paediatric neurologists.

Brain edema is found in a wide variety of clinical disorders including stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, head injury, brain tumors and hydrocephalus. This volume brings together clinical and basic scientists from all over the world. Their expertise in the understanding of brain edema and shifts in brain water compartments has led to a further significant step in our understanding of those diseases characterized by brain edema. This book has also drawn on the expertise of the International Advisory Board of the Brain Edema Society, who have carefully summarized each section, thus providing an easy-to-read summary of the latest advances in each subject. The book is therefore much more than a collection of papers: it represents a critical appraisal and puts each paper into modern scientific context. The greatest advances have come from the rapid development of modern imaging techniques, especially with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging can now produce "water maps” and "metabolic profiles” that bring brain metabolism and water content right into every clinic with access to MRI. This book provides the background knowledge to understand these pathophysiological changes.