Intensivist-led team approach to critical care of children with heart disease [7]

To the Editor. We read with great interest the article “ACC/AHA/AAP Recommendations for Training in Pediatric Cardiology.”1 We would like to comment specifically on the section that described advanced training in pediatric cardiac critical care. The practice of high-quality postoperative pediatric cardiac intensive care requires a multidisciplinary collaboration between physicians (surgeon, cardiologist, intensivist) and other clinical disciplines including nursing, respiratory therapy, pharmacology, and nutrition support. Our comments are predicated on the well-established precept that all critically ill patients are best cared for by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians with the intensivist as the team leader or co-leader.2–5 On the basis of data demonstrating better outcomes and decreased costs, groups …