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The Problem of Death in Critical Care Medicine

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Emergencies in Neurology

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Abstract

Treatment plans in critical care medicine have pushed the envelope of debilitating disease by reversing organ dysfunction before it proceeds to organ failure. For a select population of patients with a strong potential for reanimation, such care plans have been remarkably successful. However, because the patient is given the benefit of any doubt regarding the possibility of resuscitation, critical care sometimes fails to reanimate an acceptable quality of life, creating dependence on life-supporting technology [1]. Critical care life-support systems are quite capable of, and even effective in, supporting isolated organ systems, even in the presence of brain death.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Neurological Surgery University of Pittsburgh Medical (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    David W. Crippen

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  1. David W. Crippen
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Correspondence to David W. Crippen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Mamta Bhushan Singh

  2. Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Rohit Bhatia

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Crippen, D.W. (2019). The Problem of Death in Critical Care Medicine. In: Singh, M., Bhatia, R. (eds) Emergencies in Neurology . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7381-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7381-7_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7379-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7381-7

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