8 Airway Management in Cardiothoracic Intensive Care: Intubation and Tracheostomy Martin John and Christiana Burt The ability to safely secure and manage a definitive airway on the cardiothoracic intensive care…
6 Microbiology Testing A Ruth M Kappeler and Margaret I Gillham Introduction Infections in cardiothoracic intensive care units are common, either as the primary presenting illness as in the case…
5 Bronchoscopy in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit Sumit Chatterji and Pasupathy Sivasothy Introduction In 1897 Gustav Killian, a German laryngologist, performed the first airway examination in a human, with…
3 Echocardiography in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit Ghislaine Douflé and Andrew Roscoe Introduction Since its introduction into the intensive care environment in the early 1980s, echocardiography has been recognised…
4 Coronary Angiography Unni Krishnan and Stephen P Hoole Definition Coronary angiography uses radio-opaque contrast agent to delineate the anatomy of the coronary circulation. This may be performed either invasively…
2 Electrocardiography David Begley Introduction Electrocardiography (ECG) has been the main heart investigation method for most of the twentieth century and still plays a pivotal role in diagnostics. ECGs can…
1 History and Examination Lachlan Miles and Joseph E Arrowsmith The first rule of diagnosis, gentlemen! Eyes: first and most; hands: next and least; tongue: not at all! Sir Lancelot…
Coarctation of the aorta can most simply be characterized as a discrete stenosis of the upper descending thoracic aorta. Since in many cases coarctation occurs at or near the origin…
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a pulmonary vascular disease that results from fibrotic transformation of thromboemboli causing obstruction in the pulmonary vasculature. If left untreated, pulmonary artery pressure worsens,…
Introduction Cardiac pseudoaneurysms are an uncommon occurrence; however, they are associated with significant risk of complications. , A pseudoaneurysm is a contained rupture of the arterial vessel or myocardial wall….
