Annals of neurology
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Neurological intensive care has evolved from the principles of respiratory care established during the poliomyelitis epidemics into a broad field encompassing all of the acute and serious aspects of neurological disease. The economic and political complexities of modern intensive care play a major role in organizing a unit and building a program. ⋯ The "neuro-intensivist" is trained to defragment medical care by combining knowledge of neurological diseases with the techniques of intensive care. Future directions include the clinical implementation of brain resuscitation and brain-sparing therapies, sophisticated monitoring of electrophysiological and intracranial physiological indices, and further understanding of the dysfunction of other organs that follows brain and nerve failure.