Cardiology Explained: Essential Guide for Generalists & Medical Students

EXPLAINED SERIES
Cardiology
explained
Euan A Ashley and Josef Niebauer
One of the most time-consuming tasks in clinical medicine is seeking
the opinion of specialist colleagues. There is a pressure not only to
make referrals appropriate, but also to summarize the case in the
language of the specialist. Cardiology Explained is an essential tool
in this task. It explains the basic physiology and pathophysiologic
mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in a straightforward and
diagrammatic manner, gives guidelines as to when referral is
appropriate, and, uniquely, explains what the specialist is likely to do.
This facilitates an understanding of the specialty not available from
standard textbooks. With wide appeal, this book is ideal for any
hospital doctor, generalist, or even senior medical student who may
need a cardiology opinion; or for that matter, anyone who simply
wants some of cardiology – explained.
Contents
Cardiac arrest • Cardiovascular examination • Conquering the ECG
• Understanding the echocardiogram • Coronary artery disease
• Hypertension • Heart failure • Arrhythmia • Valve disease
• Infective endocarditis • Cardiomyopathy • Aneurysm and dissection
of the aorta • Pericardial disease • Adult congenital heart disease
“Cardiology Explained is for the generalist who wants a no-nonsense,
jargon-explaining, up-to-date overview of the latest developments
in cardiology. It is not intimidating and is well-illustrated with clear
diagrams and clinical data. The 14 chapters cover the whole range of
modern cardiology in a thoroughly satisfactory manner.”
Professor Peter Sleight
Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine,
University of Oxford, UK
Cardiology explained Euan A Ashley and Josef Niebauer

Cardiology
explained

Remedica explained series
ISSN 1472-4138
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ISBN 1 901346 22 6
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Euan A Ashley
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Falk CVRC, 300 Pasteur Drive
Palo Alto, California 94305
USA
Josef Niebauer
Privatdozent and Consultant Cardiologist
Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology
University of Leipzig – Heart Center
Strümpellstr. 39
04289 Leipzig
Germany
Cardiology
explained
Euan A Ashley and Josef Niebauer

Foreword
Cardiology is a rapidly changing field. New technologies such as drug-eluting
stents, left ventricular assist devices, and novel inflammatory markers, and imaging
modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging and three-dimensional
echocardiography, offer us an unprecedented view of the function of the heart in
health and an unparalleled scope of therapies with which to treat disease. Yet,
although we cardiologists like to think that we are more innovative and pioneering
than our colleagues in other specialties, it seems at least possible that there are
equally exciting changes in other fields, too. All of this leaves the generalist as the
patient’s primary advocate, as the integrator of all these specialist opinions, trying
at once to learn enough of the new advances to communicate with both patient
and specialist, but not so much as to lose the big picture in amongst the details.
What the generalist needs is a concise, well written, beautifully illustrated guide to
cardiology. And fortunately, if you’re reading this, you’ve already found it! The
authors have recognized that generalists need help in staying up-to-date with
specialist advances in a way that journals can rarely provide: a comprehensive, yet
highly digestible update to cardiology that can jog the memory in a tactful but not
patronizing way. Further, it is organized not in the didactic way in which many
such textbooks are written, but in a way that will make sense to the practicing
clinician who needs the facts quickly to hand. Clear yet detailed explanations of
what cardiologists do can be found within these pages. Specific guides to
understanding cardiological tests and writing good referral letters are two of the
unusual, yet extremely useful places where this book differs from others you might
have read. All recommendations are, of course, consistent with the latest guidelines
from the European Society of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, and the
American College of Cardiology. Meanwhile, the historical nuggets remind us from
where we have come and just how lucky we are to make it this far (intact!).
Together, these things serve to make this book a unique and invaluable resource for
generalists and other subspecialists, both in hospital and in the community.
I highly commend you for picking it up!
Alan Yeung
Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular),
Stanford University Medical Center, USA