Roger C. Bone, MD and the evolving paradigms of sepsis.

Severe sepsis and septic shock are frequent causes of ICU admission, commonly encountered complications during the course of hospitalization, and among the most common causes of death in the noncoronary ICU. Dr. Roger C. Bone was a pioneer in our struggles to improve the early recognition and management of severe sepsis and septic shock. Through his leadership and guidance, great strides were made to develop a uniform definition and to ensure the comparability of clinical research trials to evaluate new therapeutic strategies and antimediator agents. Dr. Bone also helped shape our understanding of the various stages or physiologic alterations that occur in the septic patient which also drove forward the development of new therapeutic strategies. This chapter briefly reviews the impact Roger Bone has had on our current understanding and approach to the septic patient.