Main description:

Intensive care in childhood is a relatively new field of medicine. Due to major differences in physiology, many disciplines are involved in the care of the critically ill child. Apart from specific disease patterns, morbidity in direct relation to the stay in the ICU or the underlying disease mainly determine long term morbidity. Today we understand that the treatment of the critically ill child can have a great impact on the quality of life in adulthood. This book covers the whole spectrum of intensive care in childhood. It is based on the experience of leading specialists from the various fields involved in the treatment of these children.

Contents:

The Fragile Balance Between Cells, Organisms and Environment.- Neonatology/Pediatric Surgery.- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn.- Free Radicals in Neonatal Intensive Care.- Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Strategies for Therapeutic Intervention.- Adverse Effects of Dexamethasone Treatment in Preterm Neonates.- Neonatal Metabolism of Surfactant Phosphatidylcholine: Therapeutic Implications.- The Lung in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH).- Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, a Defect beyond Surgical Repair.- Neonatal Intensive Care and Neurodevelopmental Outcome.- Organization.- Outcome Assessment and Quality Assurance in Pediatric Intensive Care.- Effectiveness and Efficiency in Pediatric Intensive Care.- Specialized Pediatric Interhospital Transfer.- The Nursing Mutual Participation Model of Care.- Neuroscience.- The Role of Leukocytes in Global and Focal Brain Ischemia.- Hypoxia and Acute Brain Insult.- Current Management of Seizures and Status Epilepticus in Children.- Nursing Aspect of Head-Injured Children.- Sepsis.- Neonatal Sepsis.- Definitions, Risk Factors, and Outcome of Sepsis in Children.- Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) in Pediatric Patients.- Septic Shock: Cardiovascular Function and Management.- Plasma Concentrations of Fibronectin in Critically Ill Children.- Pulmonary.- Mechanisms of Respiratory Failure and New Management Strategies.- High-Frequency Jet Ventilation or Oscillation?.- The Changing Pattern of Neonatal ECMO: Do we Really Need it ?.- Pediatric ECMO: Is there a Problem?.- Inhaled Nitric Oxide Therapy in Neonatal and Pediatric Cardiorespiratory Disease.- Airflow Obstruction in Asthma: There is More than Smooth Muscle.- Treatment of Severe Acute Asthma in the Child.- Treatment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis: Hope and Despair.- Pharmacology.- Fetal Pharmacology and Therapy.- Principles of Neonatal Pharmacology.- Drug Metabolism in the Neonate and Young Infant.- Pharmacology of Antimicrobial Agents in Preterm Infants.- Pulmonary Function.- Monitoring and Assessment of the Pulmonary Function in Ventilated Infants and Children.- Pulmonary Function Testing in Sick, Preterm Infants.- Cardiac Surgery.- Long-Term Outcome After Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease.- Curative Repair in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery is Increasingly Feasible.- Ethics.- Ethics.- "Good" Medicine: Ethics and Pediatric Critical Care.- Pain.- Developmental Neurobiology of Pain in Neonatal and Pediatric I.C.U. Patients.- Pain in Children: A State of the Art.- Perspectives on Pediatric Pain Control.- Emergency.- Management of Liver Failure Secondary to Mushroom Poisoning in Children.