The Eye of the Beholder

Abstract

It is not often that one is asked to write an editorial about a review article—usually an editorial is called for after a striking new scientific finding or clinical breakthrough, some paradigm-shifting publication, or to address public policy concerns that affect anesthesiologists. Luckily, the review article in this edition of Anesthesia & Analgesia, “The Coagulation Profile of End-Stage Liver Disease and Considerations for Intraoperative Management,” by Dr Katherine Forkin and her University of Virginia colleagues gets an editorial spotlight. And maybe, just maybe, this highlighted review will give nonanesthesiologist colleagues insights into the coagulation abnormalities of end-stage liver disease (ESLD), insights that have been uniquely hard-won by anesthesiologists who care for liver transplant patients.