In the last twenty years, critical care medicine has been established as a specialty with its own therapies and procedures, with significant implications for clinical nephrology regarding severe acute renal failure. This typically multi-factorial condition is today predominantly seen in intensive care units. The complex knowledge and skills necessary to handle it have resulted in a field called Critical Care Nephrology, where nephrologist and intensivist either work side by side or have formally acquired expertise and training in both specialties. Extracorporeal renal replacement therapies, although originally used to treat end-stage renal disease patients, rapidly gained importance for acute patients. This has had far-reaching implications for the initiation and possible role of blood purification in the management of critically ill patients, widening the scope of interaction between the nephrologist and the intensivist. Experts in the field have contributed to the present book, providing a comprehensive review of the different blood purification techniques relevant in the intensive care unit in the case of multiple organ failure. The resulting mix of established knowledge and recent results from both clinical trials and basic research constitutes a valuable tool for all professionals involved in the care of the critically ill patient.
Epidemiology and pathogenesis of ARF in ICU: incidence of acute renal
failure in the intensive care unit, J.L. Vincent; pathophysiology of ischemic
acute renal failure, A.M. Sheridan, J.V. Bonventre; risk factors for acute
renal failure in the intensive care unit, P. Piccinni, E. Lieta, S. Marafon.
ARF and multiple organ failure: the kidney in shock, L.G. Thijs; molecular
mechanisms underlying combined kidney-lung dysfunction during acute renal
failure, H. Rabb, F. Chamoun, J. Hotchkiss; thrombotic microangiopathies in
the intensive care unit - many questions, some answers, P. Ruggenenti, C.
Aros, G. Remuzzi. ARF and diagnostic procedures in ICU: role of the renal
biopsy in acute renal failure, K. Solez, L.C. Racusen; imaging techniques in
acute renal failure, R. Pozzi Mucelli, M. Bertolotto, E. Quaia; hemodynamic
monitoring in the ICU, M.R. Pinsky; transesophageal echocardiography in the
ICU, M. Dan, C. Sorbara. Conservative management of ARF: antibiotic therapy
in acute renal failure, P. Benedetti, F. de Lalla; the renal effects of
noradrenaline and dopamine, R. Bellomo, C. Ronco; the role of diuretic agents
in the management of acute renal failure, R. Venkataram, J.A. Kellum. Renal
replacement therapy in ICU: renal replacement therapy (RRT) in the ICU -
criteria for initiating RRT, H. Burchardi; severity scores and outcomes with
acute renal failure in the ICU setting, E.P. Paganini, B. Larive, N.S.
Kanagasundaram; answers from the first international course on critical care
nephrology questionnaire, C. Ronco, M. Zanella, A. Brendolan, et al. Which
treatment for ARF in ICU?: peritoneal dialysis in acute renal failure of
adults - the safe, effective, and low-cost modality, S.R. Ash; selected
practical aspects of intermittent hemodialysis in acute renal failure
patients, A. Dhondt, W. Van Biesen, R. Vanholder, et al; continuous renal
replacement techniques, C. Ronco, A. Brendolan, R. Bellomo; hybrid renal
replacement modalities for the critically ill, M.R. Marshall, T.A. Golper,
M.J. Shaver, et al; acute dialysis quality initiative (ADQI), J.A. Kellum,
R.L. Mehta, C. Ronco. CRRT - practical aspects: vascular access for
extracorporeal renal replacement therapies in the intensive care unit in
clinical practice, B. Canaud, K. Martin, C. Nguessan, et al; anticoagulation
in continuous renal replacement therapy, M. Schetz; factors influencing
therapy delivery in acute dialysis, W.R. Clark, C. Ronco; dialysate and
substitution fluids for patients treated by continuous forms of renal
replacement therapy, A. Davensport; machines for continuous renal replacement
therapy, C. Ronco, A. Brendolan, M. Dan, et al. ARF and sepsis: fluid
management in CRRT, R.L. Mehta; update on drug sieving coefficients and
dosing adjustments during continuous renal replacement therapies, T.A.
Golper; extracorporeal blood purification therapy for sepsis and systemic
inflammation - its biological rationale, R. Bellomo, I. Baldwin, C.
Ronco.(Part contents).
