Saleem Zaidi, MD

Choosing the field of critical care was not by chance. I was merely 17 years when my father who just had retired went into massive heart attack and landed up in cardiac intensive care unit for close to 4 months because of many complications before he passed away. The dedication and tireless hours by physicians to help save my father inspired me, that I will try my best to specialize in the field of critical care medicine.

My sound medical knowledge, my innovative research procedures that I have harnessed into perfection, my compassion to relate to patients and their families with empathy over 30 years, and my ability to work in teams make me ideally suited to treat critically ill patients. I embrace the enjoyment of problem solving, competition, and looking at a broad scope of issues encompassed by stories of humanity.

My research includes: INCREASES IN CARDIAC OUTPUT CAN REVERSE FLOW DEFICITS FROM VASOSPASM INDEPENDENT OF BLOOD PRESSURE: A STUDY USING XENON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT OF CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW.

This article reports the first human study that shows with direct measurements the independent influence of cardiac in the setting of vasospasm. Increases in cardiac without changes in mean arterial pressure can elevate cerebral blood flow. This finding has immediate clinical application because cardiac output manipulation is much safer than increasing mean arterial blood pressure. Because both interventions were equally efficacious, our protocol has been changed to augment cardiac output as a first measure. Induced hypertension is reserved for patients in whom this initial treatment fails.