This book is designed to provide a comprehensive and state-of-the-art resource for clinicians who care for patients with sepsis and research scientist alike, . Patients with severe sepsis requiring ICU admission have very high rates of ICU and overall hospital mortality, with estimates ranging from 18 to 50%. Risk factors for death from sepsis include underlying illness, increased age, and multi-system organ failure. This is compounded by the significant variation in the management of early severe sepsis. Care of these patients and clinical conditions can be quite complex, and materials are collected from the most current, evidence-based resources. Book sections have been structured toreview the overall definitions and epidemiology of sepsis as well as current insights into the pathophysiology of sepsis. This review summarizes the evidence for the international consensus guidelines for the identification and management of sepsis. The latter part of this book reviews emerging concepts and approaches in the diagnosis and management of sepsis that may significantly reduce mortality in the future. Sepsis: Pathophysiology, Definitions and the Challenge of Bedside Management represents a collaboration between authors drawn from a variety of disciplines and contributions from basic scientists and highly recognized clinical opinion leaders with expertise in clinical trials.
Dr. Ward joined the Brown faculty in 1999 after completing his pulmonary/critical care training at Yale- New Haven Hospital. His past research interests have included mechanisms of acute lung injury, mechanical ventilation of acute lung injury, and sepsis. His current research focuses on rationing, ethics and ICU resource utilization. In addition to research, Dr. Ward attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit, the Neuro ICU, and the pulmonary consultation service. He also lectures in the Pulmonary Pathophysiology course and is the co- course director. Dr. Ward is a member of the Medical School curriculum committee, the Rhode Island hospital ethics committee, and is the pulmonary/critical care fellowship director. Dr. Levy is medical director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of medicine and division chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, RI. Dr. Levy is a council member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and is co-chair of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Management Guidelines Committee. He also serves as a senior editor for the Journal of Critical Care as well as chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Critical Care End-of-Life Work Group, a group he has led since its inception in 1998. Dr. Levy has held leadership positions in the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society. In 2001, Levy chaired the International Educational and Scientific Symposium of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, an organization that also awarded Levy its Award of Ethics and Distinguished Service Award. Upon receiving his medical degree from the University of Buffalo, Levy completed his residency training at the University of Colorado Health System. He is a fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Chest Physicians.
