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  Diagnosis and management of clostridium difficile infection (CDI)

  Paul C. Johnson, Minh Le, Matthew D Sims, and Paul D. Bozyk

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  Principles of nutrition in the critically ill patient

  Shaiva G. Meka and Paul D. Bozyk

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  Tumor lysis syndrome

  Anil Pattisapu and Paul D. Bozyk

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  Severity Assessment of Pneumonia

  Vivek Jayaschandran and Girish Balachandran Nair

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  Acute Infectious Pneumonia

  Girish Balachandran Nair and Michael S. Niederman

  Pneumonia is a common community- and hospital-acquired infection that is managed in the intensive care unit (ICU) when it leads to acute respiratory failure or septic shock, or when it complicates the course of an otherwise serious illness. Modern medical technology has not been able to eliminate this infection. Rather, it has promoted its emergence by the application of novel, life-sustaining therapies in specific atrisk populations who have impairments in respiratory tract host defenses. This chapter reviews the scope of the problem among seriously ill patients.

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  Community-Acquired Pneumonia

  Girish Balachandran Nair and Michael S. Niederman

  Pneumonia is an infection of the gas-exchanging units of the lung and has a wide spectrum of clinical severity, ranging from mild outpatient illness to severe respiratory failure and sepsis. Together, pneumonia and influenza are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and the number one cause of death from infectious diseases. 12 Pneumonia in the community setting or within 48 hours following admission is termed community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The “community” also includes patients with exposure to the healthcare environment, and pneumonia in such patients is referred to as “health care–associated pneumonia” (HCAP).