Cardiology, an illustrated colour text
Authors: David E Newby and Neil R Grubb
This is another offering in the excellent ICT series (in which there are now over fifteen titles) written by two cardiologists at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. The book is aimed at medical students, non-cardiologists, nurses and allied health professionals……….so pretty well everyone then!
The greatest attraction of the series, this book included, is its presentation. Each topic is dealt with in a double page spread so the reader is not overwhelmed with information. Tables are presented in blue boxes with lilac headers and “must know” stuff is in yellow boxes with bullet points. A lot of attention has obviously gone into the layout and editing and it shows.
This is a brand new book and the terminologies and approach to management used reflect present day practice. The book begins, appropriately enough, with basic principles and a discussion of cardiac anatomy, physiology, history and examination. With that out of the way, it is the turn of investigations and it is here where those more senior readers will discover topics that weren’t covered when they were undergraduates, like tilt testing, cardiac CT and MRI and implantable loop recorders.
The management of ischaemic heart disease sees a change in terminology. Myocardial infarctions themselves are either STEMI (ST elevation) or NSTEMI (non-ST elevation) and they are classified together with unstable angina as acute coronary syndromes. Preferred assessment of myocardial damage is now with the troponins. Most patients should be investigated to confirm or refute the diagnosis of chronic stable angina, to check for precipitants, modifiable risk factors and estimate their risk of future cardiac events – 20 years ago, the diagnosis was made clinically and risk factors were not tackled in the aggressive manner that they are today. Lifestyle and risk factor modification, primary and secondary prevention are all thoroughly explored as are surgical procedures for CHD.
Further chapters deal with valvular heart disease, heart failure and the cardiomyopathies and modern management of arrhythmias including the use of implantable defibrillators and radiofrequency ablation procedures in addition to the more familiar pacemaker insertion. There is a self test arrhythmia quiz with answers at the back of the book and flow charts for current management of cardiac arrest. The remainder of the text covers vascular disease, congenital heart problems and peri/endocardial disease. Usefully for the GP, there is a section towards the end of the book describing the modern management of common presenting symptoms, such as chest pain, breathlessness, palpitation and so on.
In summary, a colourfully presented, up to the minute account of modern cardiological practice for the price of a couple of chart CDs. Buy it!
| Publisher: | Elsevier (Published 2005)
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| ISBN 0-443-07241-8
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| Reviewer: | Dr Jeremy M Sager
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| Reviewed: | May 2005
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