Item description for Atlas Of Heart Diseases Thorough Hypertension: Mechanisms and Therapy,

Hardcover, 1998, very good condition. SERIES PREFACE Disorders of the cardiovascular system are the most common causes of death and serious morbidity in the industrialized world. In 1996, more than 40% of all deaths in the United States were attributed to cardiac and vascular diseases. These conditions accounted for almost 5 million years of potential life lost. Despite these sobering statistics, pro- gress in cardiovascular medicine has been immense, and is, in fact, accelerating. Our understanding of the pathobiology of most forms of heart disease has advanced steadily and there have been enormous advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disorders. For gxample, dur- ing just one decade, from 1985 to 1996, the overall death rates from cardiovascular dis- ease declined by 26% and death rates from acute myocardial infarction and stroke declined by 32%. Similar progress has been made in other major cardiovascular disor- ders, including hypertension, valvular and congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure, and the arrhythmias. The physician responsible for the care of patients with cardiovascular disease now has a number of vehicles available for obtaining up- to-date information, including excellent jour ' pals and textbooks of every conceivable size, scope, and depth. In developing new strategies for transmitting information about these con- ditions, it is important to consider that cardio- vascular medicine is the most "visual" of med- ical specialties. Cardiovascular diagnosis is based on the recognition and understanding of a variety of graphic waveforms, images, deci- sion trees, and microscopic sections. Treatment increasingly involves the intelligent use of algorithms, which are also most effectively portrayed visually. Likewise, mechanical correction of cardiovascular disorders, whether catheter-based or surgical, can best be described pictorially. This Atlas o f Heart Diseases has been designed to provide a detailed and comprehensive visual exposition of all aspects of cardiovascular medicine. Several thousand images, accompanied by detailed captions, have been carefully selected by expert authors and reviewed by the 13 distinguished Volume Editors. These images are now available separately in print and slide form and also will soon be formatted for CD-ROM use. Many people deserve credit for the successful completion of this ambitious effort. The exper- tise and hard work of the authors and the devoted efforts of the volume editors naturally form the foundation of the Atlas of Heart Diseases. Great credit is also due to Abe Krieger, President of Current Medicine, who conceived the Atlas series; to Danielle Shaw, the extremely effective Development Editor; and to Kathryn Saxon, who so capably coordinated the efforts iri my office. All of us who have been engaged in this pro- ject hope that each individual volume, and the entire Atlas, will be useful to physicians of all specialties who are responsible for the care of patients with cardiovascular disorders, to investigators and teachers of cardiovascular medicine, and ultimately to the millions of patients worldwide with disorders of the heart and circulation.