Evidence-based neurocritical care.

Neurocritical care is a pioneering subspecialty dedicated to the treatment of patients with life-threatening neurological illnesses, postoperative neurosurgical complications, and neurological manifestations of systemic disease. The care of these patients requires specialized neurological monitoring and specific clinical expertise and has generated a body of literature commensurate with the expansion of the field. This article reviews landmark studies over the last 10 years in the management and treatment of common acute neurological illnesses including massive cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, and status epilepticus.