OVERVIEW

EDITORIALS

178  Which inotropic agent is best for intensive care patients?

Rinaldo Bellomo

178  The case for adrenaline John A Myburgh

179  The case for dobutamine

Michael C Reade

180  The case for levosimendan

Bart L De Keulenaer

180  The case for milrinone

Stephen J Warrillow

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

182  Prospective observational study of levosimendan and weaning of difficult-to-wean ventilatordependent intensive care patients

Martin Sterba, Ashoke Banerjee and Yugan Mudaliar

188  Current use of preoperative intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation in high-risk cardiac surgery: a cohort study

Ed Litton, Anthony Delaney, Judy M Simpson and Raymond Raper

194  Can ICU stay be predicted accurately enough for fast-tracking cardiac surgical patients?

Matthew R Salamonsen, Michael J Bailey and Robert F Salamonsen

203 Introduction of intensive glycaemic control into a neurosurgical intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study

Marc D Wittenberg, David J Gattas, Angela Ryan and Richard Totaro

209 Evaluation of a continuous glucose monitor in an unselected general intensive care population

Grant C Price, Karen Stevenson and Timothy S Walsh

217 Implementation and outcomes of a severe sepsis protocol in an Australian tertiary hospital

Neil R Orford, Chris Faulkner, Wendy Flintoff, David Eddey, Jill Lamb-Jenkins, Margaret Henry, Charlie Corke, Peter Stow and David Green

SURVEYS

225 Renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury in Australian and New Zealand intensive care units: a practice survey

The RENAL Study Investigators

 CASE REPORTS

231 Takotsubo cardiomyopathy associated with sepsis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia

Shuren Geng, Dan Mullany and John F Fraser

235 An unexpected ending: brain death following acute severe asthma

Steven T Galluccio, Sumeet Rai and Peter Sharley

 REVIEWS

239 Review of the application of risk-adjusted charts to analyse mortality outcomes in critical care

David A Cook, Graeme Duke, Graeme K Hart, David Pilcher and Daniel Mullany

BRIEF REPORTS FROM THE ASM OF THE JFICM

253 Synthetic blood products: science fiction or coming to an ICU near you?

Anthony D Holley

257 Erythropoietin use in the critically ill: current evidence

Stephen J Warrillow

261 The normal haemostatic system

James P Isbister

264 Elective fresh frozen plasma in the critically ill: what is the evidence?

Santosh G Verghese