Mayo Clinic Critical and Neurocritical Care Board Review

Abstract Physicians have cared for acutely ill patients throughout history; after the devastating poliomyelitis epidemics of the 1950s, a new specialty emerged. Initially, respiratory care units were created for these severely affected patients, but soon they were transformed into intensive care units (ICUs). Trauma units and transplant units soon followed. Specialized care for patients with acute neurologic and neurosurgical disease occurred in parallel with these developments, but many of the early neuroscience ICUs were redesigned wards for neurosurgical or neurologic patients. Specialized physicians and nursing staff delivered multidisciplinary care, recognizing that no one group could function well alone. It was inevitable that critical care for the sickest patient was the only option to give them a fighting chance to survive. Currently, neurocritical care board examination combines neurocritical care with general intensive care, and questions are equally divided between the two. It is therefore appropriate to combine both areas of expertise in one single volume. The chapters correspond with the key disorders suggested by UCNS to assist in preparation for the examination. As expected, this book is not only detailed in basic pathophysiology but also presents major disorders and syndromes and their management. Because it has unprecedented full coverage of acute neurology, this book is equally useful as a preparation for the critical care medicine board examination.