Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology is designed to be a concise discussion of the essential knowledge needed to diagnose and manage cardiovascular diseases. Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology cannot be considered a condensed textbook because detailed pathophysiologic discussions are omitted; there are no chapters on diagnostic techniques; and rare or obscure entities are not included. Also, it is not a cardiac therapeutics text because diagnostic techniques, prevention strategies, and prognosis are fully discussed.
Intended Audience
Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology is designed to be a quick reference source in the clinic or on the ward for the experienced physician. Cardiology fellows will find that it is an excellent review for Board examinations. Also, students and residents will find it useful to review the essentials of specific conditions and to check the current references included in each section for further study. Nurses, technicians, and other health care workers who provide care for cardiology patients will find Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology a useful resource for all aspects of heart disease care.
Coverage
The 37 chapters in Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Cardiology cover the major disease entities and therapeutic challenges in cardiology. Also, there are chapters on major management issues in cardiology, such as pregnancy and heart disease, the use of anticoagulants in heart disease, and the perioperative evaluation of heart disease patients. Each section is written by experts in the particular area, but has been extensively edited to ensure a consistent approach throughout the book and the kind of readability found in single-author texts.
Since the third edition the book has been reorganized into six sections: Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, Arrhythmias, Valvular Disease, Cardiomyopathy & Heart Failure, and Systemic Diseases & the Heart. Also, a new chapter on Antiplatelet Therapy has been added. My hope is that the book is found useful and improves patient care. Also, I hope it is an educational tool that improves knowledge of cardiac diseases. Finally, I hope it stimulates clinical research in areas where our knowledge is incomplete.
Michael H. Crawford, MD