The American Heart Association's recent scientific statement on cardiac critical care: implications for pediatric practice.

A writing group sponsored by the Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation, the Council on Clinical Cardiology, the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing, and the Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research of The American Heart Association has recently formulated a roadmap to meet the changing needs of the patient with cardiovascular disease requiring critical care. Although this roadmap has been formulated primarily to address the care needs of the adult with critical cardiovascular disease, it contains useful lessons pertinent to the care of the patient with pediatric and congenital cardiovascular disease. In this document, we have examined The Statement and applied its framework to the evolving field of pediatric cardiac critical care.