Book Review
Diastolic Heart Failure
N Engl J Med 2008; 359:103-104July 3, 2008
- Article
Diastolic Heart Failure
Edited by Otto A. Smiseth and Michał Tendera. 349 pp., illustrated. London, Springer, 2008. $199. ISBN: 978-1-84628-890-6Heart failure caused predominantly by diastolic dysfunction, or diastolic heart failure, accounts for one third to one half of all cases of heart failure. Its prevalence and the rate of associated death from all causes are increasing in tandem with the age of the population, whereas mortality associated with systolic heart failure is decreasing. Interest in the subject of diastolic heart failure is also increasing, as is the number of publications on the subject. This is in part because of the ubiquity of echocardiography, which not only can quantify ejection fraction but also can estimate filling pressures. Other factors include the availability of point-of-care B-natriuretic peptide assays, emerging clinical trials that specifically target this disorder, and ongoing debates about the nomenclature and pathophysiology of diastolic heart failure.
Diastolic Heart Failure reviews all the important issues that are related to this disease. It is a superb book. The editors have chosen topics wisely, and the result is a well-written, readable, and concise yet comprehensive book that covers all the important aspects of diastolic heart failure. Included are remarkably contemporary reviews of different aspects of noninvasive and invasive evaluation of diastolic function. In some instances, the contributing authors are the leading authorities in their fields.
The well-referenced and well-illustrated chapters related to Doppler analysis of transmitral velocities, the velocity of blood flow in the pulmonary veins, and tissue Doppler recordings of the motion of the mitral annulus contain illuminating explanations and concepts. The chapters on pathophysiology, clinical trials, and prognosis offer information that is hard to find elsewhere in the literature. To single out one chapter for special praise would be difficult. The book avoids the common pitfalls of medical books on single topics, such as undue redundancy and the inclusion of extraneous material.
The editors of this book are to be complimented for a timely and comprehensive review of a topic whose importance will continue to grow. It is difficult to imagine a cardiologist who would not benefit from — or even enjoy — reading Diastolic Heart Failure.
Gerard P. Aurigemma, M.D.
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655
gerard.aurigemma@umassmed. edu
