Charles W. Otto, MD

Professor, Anesthesiology

Associate Professor, Medicine

Director, Critical Care Medicine and Medical Director of Respiratory Therapy

(520) 626-6938
cwotto@email.arizona.edu

View CV

Dr. Otto received his B.A. in zoology from Swarthmore College. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, he began his training in internal medicine at the University of Kentucky. However, the U.S. Army introduced him to the joys of anesthesiology. After a brief hiatus in Saigon, he completed his residency and critical care medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He joined the University of Arizona in 1975. Board and subspecialty certified in Anesthesiology and Medicine, Dr. Otto holds appointments in both Departments in the College of Medicine. He directs the Critical Care Medicine service for the Department and is very active in the residency program. He has authored the chapter on CPR in six anesthesiology and critical care medicine textbooks, has over 100 scientific publications, and has held multiple national and international visiting professorships. Dr. Otto is an active member of many anesthesiology and CCM organizations. He served as an oral examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology for 20 years. He has held all offices in the Arizona Society of Anesthesiologists, including President in 1984. He currently serves as the Vice President for Scientific Affairs of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). He serves on multiple ASA committees, was the ASA liaison to the American Heart Association (AHA) for 9 years and continues as a member of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support Subcommittee of the AHA. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research and the Boards of Trustees of the Wood Library Museum and the Anesthesia Foundation. Dr. Otto was honored with the Duke Award for Excellence and Innovation in Anesthesiology Education from the Society for Education in Anesthesia in 2001, the Asmund S. Laerdal Memorial Lecture Award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 2007, and the Distinguished Service Award of the Arizona Society of Anesthesiologists in 2008.

Research Interests:

Research interests involve multiple aspects of cardiopulmonary resuscitation including the effects of catecholamines, importance of ventilation, CO2 transport and monitoring the effectiveness of chest compressions.

Representative Publications:

Kern KB, Valenzuela TD, Clark LL, Berg RA, Hilwig RW, Berg MD, Otto CW, Newburn D, Ewy GA: An alternative approach to advancing resuscitation science. Resuscitation 64: 261-268, 2005

Ewy GA, Kern KB, Sanders AB, Newburn D, Valenzuela TD, Clark L, Hilwig RW, Otto CW, Hayes MM, Martinez, P, Berg RA: Cardiocerebral resuscitation for cardiac arrest. Am J Med 119:6-9, 2006.

Ewy GA, Zuercher M, Hilwig RW, Sanders AB, Berg RA, Otto CW, Hayes MM, Kern KB: Improved neurological outcome with continuous chest compressions compared with 30:2 compressions-to-ventilations CPR in a realistic swine model of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Circulation 116:2525-2530, 2007.

Otto CW: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Principles and Practice of Anesthesiology. Longnecker DE, Newman MF, Zapol, W, Brown D (eds). McGraw-Hill, New York 2008, pp 1873-1890.

Otto CW: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Clinical Anesthesia. Barash PG, Cullen BF, Stoelting RK, Cahalan MK, Stock MC (eds). Lippencott William & Wilkins, Philadelphia. 2009 (In Press).