One of the anesthesiologist's greatest challenges is managing high-risk patients with acute or severe conditions.� This issue brings the anesthesiologist up to date on the most important and latest approaches to management of the sickest of patients.� Topics covered include managing the patient with sepsis or septic shock; anesthetic considerations for patients in respiratory failure; anesthetic concerns in patients presenting with renal failure; perioperative management of patients with liver failure; management of acute coronary syndrome in the OR; intraoperative concerns in patients presenting with sever aortic stenosis, aortic insufficiency, mitral regurgitation, or mitral stenosis; intraoperative management of patients with cardiac tamponade; anesthetic concerns in trauma victims requiring operative intervention; patients presenting with acute toxin indigestion; anesthetic concerns in patients with known neurologic insufficiency; management of endocrine insufficiency in the OR; and management of patients with mediastinal mass or tracheal stenosis.
