This text aims to provide a practical guide to diagnosis and investigation in critical/intensive care medicine, including some management and treatment. Technical details of procedures and equipment used is not covered, thus avoiding any problems arising out of regional differences in technique. The book is divided into five key sections covering physical signs, respiratory diagnosis and investigation, cardiovascular diagnosis and investigation, laboratory diagnosis and investigation, and diagnostic imaging. Organization is by problem rather than system, an approach more relevant to actual clinical practice. The laboratory section includes relevant microbiology, and the ultrasound section includes practical applications such as guiding the drainage of effusions and so on. Paediatric intensive care is not an area of emphasis as this is becoming a separate specialty. The atlas aims to provide the core knowledge for the trainee in critical care medicine, and to communicate to the trainee and non-expert clinician the knowledge necessary to investigate and diagnose problems in critical/intensive care. A unique guide to diagnosis in critical care medicine, comprehensive coverage of physical and physiological signs, and use and interpretation of laboratory and imaging investigations are all key features of the text.