This volume contains contributions by well-known scientists and clinicians in the fields of microbiology, infectious diseases, physiology, internal medicine, surgery, anaesthesiology, and intensive care medicine. It provides an up-to-date overview of the mediators and pathophysology of sepsis and septic shock as well as the latest therapeutic approaches.

Inhalt
Mediators and Pathophysiology of Sepsis.- Sepsis and Multiple Organ Failure: Consensus and Controversy.- Endotoxin Administration to Humans: A Model of Inflammatory Responses Relevant to Sepsis.- Mediators of Lung Injury Following Ischemia and Reperfusion.- Cytokines in Shock: 1992.- TNF-? and Soluble TNF Receptors in Meningococcemia.- Role of the Complement Cascade in Severe Sepsis.- The Role of the Kallikrein-Kinin System in Septic Shock.- The Procoagulant State in Sepsis: Experimental Models and New Modalities for Intervention.- Leukocyte-Endothelial Interactions in Trauma and Sepsis.- Oxyradical Pathogenesis in Sepsis.- PAF, Cytokines and Cell to Cell Interactions in Shock and Sepsis.- Nitric Oxide as a Mediator of the Vascular Derangements of Sepsis and Endotoxemia.- Endogenous Opioids and Opioids Antagonists in Endotoxic and Septic Shock: A Current Perspective.- Role of Neural Stimuli and Pain.- Sepsis and Strenuous Exercise: Common Inflammatory Factors.- The Gut-Liver Axis in Multiple Organ Failure.- Secondary Hepatic Dysfunction: Clinical Epidemiology, Pathogenesis and Current Therapeutic Approaches.- Cardiac Effects of the Mediators of Sepsis.- The Peripheral Vasculature.- New Therapeutic Approaches to Sepsis.- Dilemmas in Sepsis Clinical Trials Design and Analysis.- Experimental Basis of New Therapeutic Approaches to Septic Shock.- Anti-Endotoxin Antibodies: A Critical Appraisal.- The Case for Immunotherapy Against Endotoxin in Sepsis and Septicemia.- Bactericidal Permeability Increasing Protein: A Potent Naturally Occurring Anti-Endotoxin Protein.- Strategies for Modulation of Systemic and Tissue Cytokine Responses to Sepsis.- Blocking Cytokines in Infectious Diseases.- Platelet Activating Factor: Rationale for the Use of PAF-Antagonists in Sepsis.- MediatorGene Expression in Sepsis: Implications for Therapy.