Hospitalist Neurology

S. Andrew Josephson, MD

Vanja C. Douglas MD

Inpatient-based neurologic problems often require special expertise to deliver care that is time-dependent and requires the help of multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, and ancillary staff. Neurohospitalists are required to be familiar with a wide range of neurologic emergencies that they may encounter daily, many of which demand an up-to-date knowledge of a rapidly changing landscape of evidence. In this issue of Seminars in Neurology, we aim to provide the reader with a current review of the literature regarding a diverse set of inpatient conditions. Although many topics will be familiar to any neurologist who has cared for patients in the hospital, including stroke, status epilepticus, meningitis, headache, and neuromuscular emergencies, we have also recruited experts to help us tackle conditions that previously fell in the domain of either internal medicine or other specialties but are now increasingly being cared for by neurohospitalists. These include delirium, transplant neurology, perioperative neurologic questions, and neuro-oncologic emergencies. Finally, because many neurohospitalists work to design systems-based solutions to common problems in the hospital, we have articles on quality metrics and models of inpatient neurologic care.

The experts responsible for these articles have dedicated their valuable time to provide an inpatient-focused look at these problems in the hope of serving as a useful reference for 2015 inpatient neurology, even if this rapidly evolving field may look very different in the coming years. It has truly been an honor and a joy to work on this issue and we want to thank Dr. David Greer for his leadership and guidance as well as Ms. Ashley Stahle, Senior Administrator, for her incredible support. We hope you enjoy the issue and find it a helpful guide the next time you encounter patients with these inpatient neurologic disorders.