The story of cardiac intensive care began in 1960s with the introduction of electrocardiogram monitoring for patients with acute myocardial infarction coupled with the antiarrhythmic intervention (defibrillation and lidocaine). As a result of incessant development of both diagnosis and treatment with continuous research efforts and the technology innovation, the patient outcomes in life threatening cardiac condition have been improved.
Although the achievement of cardiac intensive care largely depended on the results of ischemic heart disease care in the past, nowadays the kinds of diseases, conditions and severity vary widely and drugs and devices have been changing. The current complex cardiovascular conditions we have to deal with are; decompensated heart failure with mechanical device, sepsis induced myocardial dysfunction, post cardiac arrest syndrome requiring neuroprotection, acute aortic syndrome, acute pulmonary thromboembolism, pulmonary hypertension, and device failure. In order to provide the detailed personalized intensive care for each patient with the goal for good quality of life, we should provide the multidisciplinary collaborative work with intensive care trained nurses, respiratory therapist, clinical engineers, physical therapists, nutritionists and social workers. Furthermore such cardiac intensive care actually begins in prehospital setting or emergency department, a close relationship between emergency staffs and cardiologists is inevitable.
In this symposium, we are going to discuss about the practical issues and the future perspective of multidisciplinary approach, the indication and management of mechanical assist device such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation, the optimal usage of both old and new hemodynamic and antiarrhythmic drugs and nutritional support in cardiac intensive care. Furthermore a major issue exists in training process for cardiology applicant to whom education of intensive care medicine is nearly lacking. This major issue requires deep discussion and rapid, systematic solution.