Heart Failue: Current Clinical Understanding

"Heart Failue: Current Clinical Understanding".

Table of Contents:
Diagnosis 1 Epidemiology 30 Management 34 Prognosis 48 References 51 Abbreviations 54 Index 55

Review :
The directness of the text reflects the broad knowledge and confidence of these two cardiologists, and the book is easy to read, a quality becoming ever rarer. The text is also accompanied by illustrations that are both relevant and useful. The book will be invaluable to students, primary-care physicians, health workers, and cardiovascular physicians. Philip A Poole-Wilson, MB, MD, FRCP, FMedSci Professor of Cardiology British Heart Foundation Simon Marks Chair of Cardiology National Heart & Lung Institute Imperial College London. This beautifully illustrated text provides an authoritative presentation of the current knowledge base on heart failure from a clinically relevant perspective. Moreover, the material is presented in a matter that is understandable to non-specialists in the area. Readers will be treated to an overview of the best management strategies currently available, together with information that will help to put these approaches into the context of the specific patient. Barry Greenberg, MD Professor of Medicine Director, Advanced Heart Failure Treatment Program University of California, San Diego. **Description** The authors aim to teach the clinical aspects of the heart failure syndrome to physicians who are taking care of heart failure patients. The topic is presented in an easy-to-understand format with many illustrations and graphics. **Purpose** The purpose is to provide an up-to-date reference of the epidemiology, diagnosis, management, and prognosis of heart failure as a clinical syndrome. The authors meet their objective with this concise and straightforward book. **Audience** It is intended for medical students, physicians in training, and practicing physicians who care for heart failure patients. **Features** The book is well written for its purpose of teaching others how to effectively manage the increasing number of heart failure patients. The information is presented in a unique clinical format, using tables, charts, and illustrations. It is not intended as a textbook, rather as a clinical guide for students or practitioners. **Assessment** This book definitely has its place in the field as a clinical guide for practicing heart failure physicians. Christopher Louis Paris, BS, MD (Ochsner Clinic Foundation. This beautifully illustrated book is ideal for the new physician or health care associate interested in becoming initiated in the current state of the knowledge of heart failure diagnosis and therapy. The research and drug development that has occurred in the last half century is clearly described in this monograph by two of the world's most outstanding cardiologists, Dr. George C. Sutton at the Imperial College London and Dr. Kanu Chatterjee at the University of California. Sections on pathology and diagnosis are clearly integrated to provide a clear relationship between physical findings and pathophysiology. Pathologic specimens are also integrated into the latest advances in diagnostic technology. In addition, an incisive review of the major knowledge about the relationship between disease mechanisms, particularly the renin-angiotensin system and disease progression, is also developed in the text. The ever-changing state of drug and surgical therapy is well covered and provides physiologic guidelines to facilitate the choice of the optimal therapy for different heart failure etiologies. In addition, an excellent review of the epidemiology of the causes of heart failure is presented. All in all this is a small but very inclusive monograph that opens the door to the understanding of the complexities of diagnosis and therapy of heart failure in contemporary medicine. Sidney Goldstein, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.