The Editors and contributors of this book take seriously the statement that "For all of the science inherent in the specialty of pediatric critical care medicine, there is still art in providing comfort and solace to our patients and their families. No technology will ever replace the compassion in the touch of a hand or the soothing words of a calm and gentle voice." The four volumes of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: Basic Science and Clinical Evidence, 2nd Edition detail the continued growth and evolution of the pediatric critical care medicine speciality. They reveal the technological innovations in monitoring and information management and gives witness to the rapid evolution and adoption of novel monitoring techniques, such as continuous venous oximetry and near-infrared spectroscopy. They also cover advances in molecular biology that have led to the era of personalized medicine with the ability to individualize treatment to the unique and specific needs of a patient. As such this volume and its three sister titles will be of immense value to all studying and practicing pediatric critical care medicine or those involved in the management of this group of patients.

Derek S. Wheeler, MD is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He is the Associate Medical Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, as well as an attending physician in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He has published extensively in pediatric critical care medicine and has contributed to numerous textbooks in the past.Hector R. Wong, MD is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Director of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati. He is on the editorial board of the journal, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and has edited one book (with Dr Thomas Shanley) for KAP on the Molecular Biology of Acute Lung Injury, while contributing to numerous books, journals and supplements.Thomas P. Shanley, MD is the Ferrantino Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Dr Shanley is the Director of the Division of Critical Care Medicine, as well as the Director of the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. He has published extensively in pediatric critical care medicine and has previously edited one book (with Dr Wong) for KAP on the Molecular Biology of Acute Lung Injury.