Book excerpt: All aspects of oxygen transport and tissue oxygenation that are relevant in clinical medicine are covered in this monograph. Experts from basic science as well as clinical research provide information that improves understanding of how to treat O2-transport disturbances in daily practice. Special interest is focussed on the question of supply dependency of O2-uptake and its role in multi-organ failure in the critically ill. Other topics are the clinical monitoring of O2-transport and O2-utilisation, oxygen toxicity, and the role of O2-radicals and the reperfusion syndrome in organ transplantation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.