Book Review

Cardiovascular Medicine

N Engl J Med 1995; 333:740September 14, 1995

Article

Cardiovascular Medicine
Edited by James T. Willerson and Jay N. Cohn. 1976 pp., illustrated. New York, Churchill Livingstone, 1995. $115. ISBN: 0-443-08781-4

The stated goal of Cardiovascular Medicine is to provide an “authoritative and comprehensive review of important, clinically relevant topics pertaining to cardiovascular diseases.” The editors have selected over 100 authors from all over the world for their excellence in science, medicine, and writing and have merged the chapters into a superb treatise that is both authoritative and comprehensive. Cardiovascular Medicine is a unique textbook that covers the scientific basis of disease as well as the available clinical experience, while also identifying therapeutic enigmas. This approach will allow the reader to adapt easily to new information as it is developed.

Cardiovascular Medicine begins with a thoughtful and well-illustrated unit on symptoms and signs of cardiovascular disease. This unit is an excellent introduction for medical students and interns and is a solid review for more advanced residents and fellows. The chapters on anatomy and surgical treatment provide a wealth of information and therapeutic approaches. The chapter on echocardiography is well written, although it would have benefited from more emphasis on transesophageal echocardiography. In adults, especially those who have had cardiac operations, the window allowing the passage of sound waves is small. Therefore, transesophageal echocardiography is an important option to consider when echocardiography is indicated. The unit on basic aspects of myocardial function, growth, and development examines the relation among cardiac hypertrophy, alterations in cardiac-specific gene expression, and systolic and diastolic function. The illustrations were carefully chosen and will be very helpful to readers who are inexperienced in this important field. There are also particularly insightful units on aging, the genetic basis of cardiovascular disease, and coronary artery disease in women, as well as a futuristic chapter on cardiovascular changes associated with space flight. Cardiovascular Medicine also provides excellent units on valvar and coronary artery disease, myocardial and pericardial disease, vascular medicine, arrhythmias, pulmonary hypertension, newer imaging methods such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, cardiovascular anesthesia, exercise testing, and preventive cardiology. These bread-and-butter areas of cardiology are examined carefully and in depth. The reader is provided with clear and well-reasoned recommendations for patient care, along with an abundance of supportive references. The authors and editors have been careful to cite primary peer-reviewed literature containing original data, rather than refer to earlier chapters and reviews. Virtually all the chapters are accompanied by informative illustrations.

Cardiovascular Medicine will be a welcome addition to the personal libraries of medical students, house officers, fellows, and clinicians.

David Fisher, M.D.
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43205