W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia (1 994). 448 pages, illustrated, $85.00 ... New York, Churchill Livingstone. 1994. $295.00. Congestive Heart Failure: ...
683
Geriatric Cardiology: Principlesand Practices
Edited by Anthony Martin and A. John Camm John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, U.K. (1994) 813 pages, illustrated, $109.00 ISBN: 0-47 1-94064-x Geriatric Cardiology:Principles and Practice by Martin and Camm is a timely addition to the geriatric literature on cardiovascular diseases. The text is well organized, and contains sections on fundamentalsof aging, examination, pathophysiology of aging, systematic diseases, syndromes, major elements of therapy, and research into heart disease and old age. There are 35 chapters in this 783 page textbook, authored by experts in the field, primarily British. ‘The editors have taken into consideration transcontinentalmedical practice patterns, and included chapters on economics and health policy, ethical considerations, and a chapter on the North American perspective of geriatric cardiology written by Drs. Lakatta and Gersh. Special problems that occur in older individuals have been extensively discussed in chapters focusing on communicating with elderly people, autonomic nervous system dysfunction with aging, pharmacologic aspects of cardiac drug treatment in the elderly, faints and falls, syncope,and quality of life issues. The chapters on clinical examination,echocardiography chest radiograph, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging are particularly well illustrated. The chapterson acute myocardial infarction and coronary angioplasty provide a broad, but not exhaustive, overview of both common clinical problems in the geriatric patient. The total population of patients over 65, and number of people aged 80 years or older is growing rapidly in most western countries. Geriktric Cadiology: Principles and Practice fills a need for the busy practitioner by providing a timely and comprehensive review of the diagnosis and management of the older patients with cardiac diSease.
Bernard R. Chaitman M.D. Saint Louis University Medical School St. Louis, Missouri
Arrhythmias Edited by John A. Kastor
W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia (1994) 448 pages, illustrated, $85.00 ISBN: 0-7216-4228-4 The intended readership for this book, as stated in the preface, is the clinician who is not and does not plan to be an electrophysiologist. The organization of the book thus emphasizesthe clinical evaluation and management of patients with arrhythmias, with only occasional mention of invasive electrophysiologic testing. The chapters are organized by arrhythmia diagnosis, such as automatic atrial tachycardia or sick sinus syndrome. Each chapter includes the clinicalhistory, physical examination, electrccdopm, differential diagnosis,other laboratory tests, mechanisms, and e a t -
ment of a specific arrhythmia. There are extensiveand up-to-date references throughout the book. Books on cardiac arrfiythrmaseither tend to be focused on electrocardiographicinterpretation, or else are more comprehensive texts for dedicated students of arrhythmias.This new book has a more clinical focus which should be attractive to the general c d ologist or internist who wants to learn more about arrhythmias. Significant advantages of the book are its conciseness and the well organized presentation of information in each chapter. The book is most valuable for information on a specific arrhythrma. For the most part the writing in each chapter is consistent, although the two chapterson AV nodal reentrant tachycardia and arrhythmias related to the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome are more heavily weighted toward invasive electrophysiology than the others. The text might have been enhanced by an introductory chapter on arrhythmiamechanisms and an overall approach to the differential diagnosis of cardiac arhythm~as.Arrhythmia mechanisms are in fact reviewed in the chapter on ventricular premature complexes, but this is not until Chapter 13 and is not obvious from the organization of the book. Differential diagnosis is, indeed, discussed extensively for each arrhythrma in each chapter. Useful tips on differentiating one tachycardiafrom another are provided, but an overall approach to diagnosing tachycardias might have been valuable to the generalist before the individual discussions of each arrhythmia. These points are minor criticisms; overall the book is concise, well organized,and a potentially valuable addition to the library of any general cardiologist or internist who desires to learn more about arrhythrmas.
Anne B. Curtis, M.D. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Florida Gainesville, Florida
BOOKS RECEIVED This listing achwledges with appreciation the receipr of books sen?to Clinical Cardiology.Book will be listed upon receipt in order to provide timelypublishing infornmtion. Books ofparticular interesr will be reviewed in Clinical Cardiology as space permits.
Beta-blockersin C h i d Practice,2nd Edition. By J. M. Cruickshank and B. N. C. Prichard. New York, Churchill Livingstone. 1994.$295.00 CongestiveHeart Failure: Pathophysiology,Diagnosisand Management. By Jon D. Blumenfeld and John H. Laragh. West Islip, NY,Professional Communications, Inc. 1994. $17.95 The History of Cardiology. By Louis J. Aciemo. London, The Parthenon Publishing Group. 1994. $98.00 Implantable ~ v e ~ r - ~ ~Edited t by o Igor r Singer. . h o n k , NY, FuturaPublishingCompany, Inc. 1994.$149.00 Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators:A Comprehensive Textbook. Edited by N. A. Mark Estes, III,Antonis S. Manolis, and Paul J. Wang. New York, Marcel Dekker. Inc. 1994. 1994. $1 95.00 Low Molecular Weight Heparinsin Prophylaxisand Therapy of Thromboembolic Diseases. Edited by Henri Bounameaux. New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1994. $125.00 Neuropeptidesin RgpirStory Medidne. Edited by Michael A. Kaliner, Peter J. Barnes, Gert H. H. Kunkel, and James N. Baraniuk. New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1994.$195.00 Sportsand Exercise Medicine. Edited by Stephen C. Wood and Robert C. Roach. New York, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1994.$1 10.00 Sudden Cardiac Death.By Sidney Goldstein, Antonio Bayes-de-Luna, and J. Guinddoldevila. h o n k , NY,FuturaPublishing Co., Inc. 1994. $68.00
