It has been 44 years since the publication of the first edition of Hurst's
the Heart, the first multidisciplinary and comprehensive textbook on
cardiovascular disease. Through 13 editions, The Heart has always
represented a cornerstone of current scholarship in the discipline.
Cardiologists, internists, and trainees from around the world have relied on
its authority, breadth of coverage, and clinical relevance to keep up to
date on advances in the field and to help optimize patient care. The 13th
edition of The Heart continues and actually exceeds this
standard-setting tradition with 19 new chapters and 59 new authors from
around the globe who are experts in their respective content areas.
Featuring an enhanced and reader-friendly design, the
new edition covers need-to-know clinical advances, as well as issues that
are becoming increasingly vital to cardiologists and other physicians
worldwide; through the 17 thematic sections, the reader will find the most
complete overview of cardiovascular topics available, plus a timely new
focus on evidencebased medicine, health outcomes, and health care quality.
Furthermore, as important additions to previous editions, there are 1548
full-color illustrations and 578 tables with a new attractive design.
Other new features include:
• The section titled Cardiovascular Disease: Past, Present, and Future
includes a new chapter on the increasingly critical topic of assessing and
improving quality of care in cardiovascular medicine.
• The
section that focuses on the scientific foundations of cardiovascular
medicine has been thoroughly updated, revised, and integrated into the
remainder of the clinically focused chapters in the book.
• The
section on the evaluation of the patient contains two new chapters that
detail the process of effective, rational diagnostic and therapeutic
decision-making based on available and well-defined technology, the most
recent clinical trials, and practice guidelines.
• The section on
heart failure has not only been fully updated in all its chapters but, as an
addition to the updated chapter on mechanical ventricular support, there is
now a separate chapter on cardiac transplantation.
• Five sections
on primary heart disease (cardiomyopathy, rhythm disorders, syncope and
sudden death, coronary disease, and hypertensive heart disease), which
entail about one-third of the book, all have been very carefully revised and
contain new chapters on topics such as evolving preventive strategies for
coronary artery disease and updated pharmacologic strategies for acute
coronary syndromes.
• The section on cardiopulmonary disease
features new chapters on chronic cor pulmonale and sleep-disordered
breathing and their relationship to cardiovascular disease.
• The
section on valvular heart disease has four completely rewritten chapters by
new authors who are authorities in the field.
• After the fully
revised final six sections of The Heart (congenital heart disease,
pericardial disease and endocarditis, anesthesia and the heart,
miscellaneous cardiovascular conditions, peripheral vascular disease, and
social issues), there are now new chapters on the environment and heart
disease, surgical treatment of carotid and peripheral vascular disease, and
cost-effective strategies in cardiology.
In this
thirteenth edition of The Heart, we welcome Robert Harrington as
Editor and Eric Rose and Sharon Hunt as Associate Editors. Robert O'Rourke
has retired as Editor of The Heart after having made enormous contributions
to the past six editions, and we will miss him. We sadly mourn the recent
loss of former Editor, friend, and colleague Philip Poole-Wilson.
We warmly thank the authors for their extraordinary
dedication and commitment to a rigorous time schedule that allowed
publication of this edition only 2 years after the previous edition; this is
an outstanding record in the publishing world. We acknowledge the consistent
support and encouragement of J. Willis Hurst, Editor of the first seven
editions. We greatly appreciate the steady support and understanding of
Maria Fuster, Donna Walsh, Rhonda Larsen Harrington, Gail King, Donna
Roberts, Ellise Rose, Beth Nash, and Bonnie Prystowsky for the successful
completion of the book. The secretarial support of Robinson Santana and Jill
Pritchett is greatly appreciated.
Finally, we
extend our appreciation to James Shanahan and his associates at McGraw-Hill,
especially Christine Diedrich, for their energetic support and for making it
possible to make the thirteenth edition available so promptly all over the
world.
The Editors
Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD
Richard
A. Walsh, MD
Robert A. Harrington, MD
Associate
Editors
Sharon A. Hunt, MD
Spencer B. King III, MD
Ira S. Nash, MD
Eric N. Prystowsky, MD
Robert
Roberts, MD
Eric Rose, MD