A Case for Change in Adult Critical Care Training for Physicians in the United States: A White Paper Developed by the Critical Care as a Specialty Task Force of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Objectives: In the United States, physician training in Critical Care Medicine has developed as a subspecialty of different primary boards, despite significant commonality in knowledge and skills. The Society of Critical Care Medicine appointed a multidisciplinary Task Force to examine alternative approaches for future training.

Design: The Task Force reviewed the literature and conducted informal discussions with key stakeholders.

Circulatory death determination in uncontrolled organ donors: a panel viewpoint.

One barrier for implementing programs of uncontrolled organ donation after the circulatory determination of death is the lack of consensus on the precise moment of death. Our panel was convened to study this question after we performed a similar analysis on the moment of death in controlled organ donation after the circulatory determination of death. We concluded that death could be determined by showing the permanent or irreversible cessation of circulation and respiration.

Bispectral index monitoring in the management of sedation in an intensive care unit patient with locked-in syndrome.

Locked-in syndrome is an extremely rare neurological state caused by injury of the ventral pons. The syndrome is characterized by quadriplegia and anarthria with concomitant preservation of cortical function. When a reversible underlying pathological abnormality is identified and managed aggressively, meaningful recovery is possible.