The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Neuroscience Critical Care Unit (NCCU) is an 8-bed intensive care unit, established to meet the needs of the neuro-medical and -surgical patients who are critically ill with or without multisystems dysfunction.
The NCCU is fully equipped with state-of-the-art monitoring, mechanical ventilation and related intensive care support systems to provide comprehensive patient care in a critical care setting.
Physicians and nurses on the NCCU are specially trained in neurology, anesthesiology or both, as well as neurological critical care.
Scope of Care
The majority of patients admitted to the NCCU include those suffering from:
- cerebral vascular disorders (aneurysms, carotid artery disease)
- coma
- encephalopathy
- severe head or spine trauma
- seizures
- stroke (especially those in need of post-intravenous or intra-arterial TPA therapy)
- severe or deteriorating demyelinating illness
- neurologic infections
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- neuromuscular disorders (ventilatory failure)
- autonomic instability
- recent major surgical procedures (spine surgery, carotid artery surgery, angioplasty, endovascular procedures)
Attending physicians on the NCCU approve all admissions to the unit and, upon admission, assume primary care of the patient. Collaborative care is provided by specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, ENT and orthopaedic-spine care.
Other multidisciplinary services available include pharmacy services, physical, occupation and speech therapy, social work, case management services and dietary services.
