Essentials of Cardiovascular Examination highlights common mistakes made in cardiovascular examination. With 70 images, illustrations and information tables, Essentials of the Cardiovascular System covers anatomy and physiology, physical diagnosis of all common cardiovascular diseases, their investigation and treatment.The book provides a solid foundation of clinical knowledge for the beginner, and an excellent reference guide for the experienced clinician.

It has been our experience that instruction in physical examination of the heart in medical schools has been deteriorating since the advent of such modern diagnostic tools as two-dimensional echocardiography and nuclear imaging. At best, the teaching has been sketchy and too superficial for the student to appreciate the pathophysiological correlates. Both invasive and the noninvasive modern technologies have contributed substantially to our knowledge and understanding of cardiac physical signs and their pathophysiological correlates. However, both students and teachers alike appear to be mesmerized by technological advances to the neglect of the age-old art, as well as the substantial body of science, of cardiac physical examination. It is also sad to see reputed journals give low priority to articles related to the clinical examination. Our experience is substantiated by a nationwide survey of internal medicine and cardiology training programs, which concluded that the teaching and practice of cardiac auscultation received low emphasis, and perhaps other bedside diagnostic skills as well (1). The state of the problem is well reflected in the concerns expressed in previous publications (2–4), including the 2001 editorial in the American Journal of Medicine (Vol. 110, pp. 233–235), entitled “Cardiac auscultation and teaching rounds: how can cardiac auscultation be resuscitated?”, as well as in the rebuttal, “Selections from current literature. Horton hears a Who but no murmurs—does it matter?” (5).

A panel of leading researchers and clinician-scientists distill from years of practical experience and recent scientific and clinical advances the essence of cardiology principles and techniques today. In this second edition, all of the original chapters have been extensively rewritten and two new chapters on acute coronary syndromes following the modern classification have been added: one on unstable angina pectoris and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and the other on ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Compact yet comprehensive, Essential Cardiology: Principles and Practice, Second Edition offers today's busy cardiology and internal medicine practitioners, cardiology fellows, and medical residents rapid access to the latest ideas and techniques needed for today's gold standard diagnosis and management of cardiac patients.

Essentials of Bedside Cardiology, Second Edition, like the first edition, is designed for those who wish to balance technological advances with increased personal skill in history taking and physical examination. It is important to teach physicians that all technologies now in use for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders, such as echocardiography, can have false positive and false negative results. It is not always wise to rely on these technologies alone; indeed, they may not even be available in some settings. Even when the full panoply of up-to-date techniques is at the physician's disposal, the patient may not be a good candidate for an echocardiogram, or the technician or reader may not be well qualified, or the equipment itself may be substandard. Technology must be combined with physical examination to decide what is true and what is false. The practice of expert history taking and physical examination returns the physician to the actual patient, where the physician can feel like a "real doctor" rather than a mere interpreter of laboratory data. Essentials of Bedside Cardiology, Second Edition, strives to teach and not simply to tell the facts, relying on three basic methods derived from the psychology of teaching and learning: 1. Explain the facts. 2. Use a question and answer format-the Socratic method. 3. Provide tricks or mnemonics to help the reader remember the facts.

This book proposes a novel learning approach that complements and augments the prevailing method of case-based learning. Learning these signs requires the application and integration of the fundamental skills of observation, palpation, percussion, and auscultation, and in more advanced cases, the use of maneuvers performed at the patient’s bedside. The book provides a discussion of the utility of the signs and reviews the mechanism and pathophysiology of related cardiovascular diseases. Each chapter discusses eponymic signs for a variety of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, venothromboembolism, ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, and peripheral vascular disease. Finding a particular sign during the physical examination enhances clinical suspicion for a specific cardiovascular disease, directing physicians to obtain more specific studies to confirm a diagnosis. This should lead to the delivery of more efficient care with the potential benefit of lowering health care costs. Cardiovascular Eponymic Signs: Diagnostic Skills Applied During the Physical Examination is an essential resource for physicians and related professionals, residents, fellows, and graduate students in cardiology, primary care, and internal medicine.

The book contains a series of core auscultation “lessons”. All are case based and describe auscultation as it relates to a patient and in terms of the gold standard for interpretation of heart sounds. Auscultation is the term for listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. It is performed for the purposes of examining the circulatory system and respiratory system (heart sounds and breath sounds). As a topic it is one of the oldest in cardiology but its utility should never be underestimated. In this era of hugely expensive imaging tests, auscultation is a cornerstone of efficient diagnosis and therefore needs a fresh look. The core content of this book describes the search for diagnostic clues within patients’ heart sounds and as such this book provides superb practical advice in the form of a series of clinical pearls reflecting what accurate diagnosis with auscultation can mean to patient prognosis and outcome. This often subtle but ultimately simple subject often produces complex results and these must be considered in light of modern next-level diagnostic methods and patient management.

Essential Cardiology: Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition, blends molecular, cellular, and physiologic concepts with current clinical practice and provides up-to-date information on all major aspects of cardiovascular disease. Fully revised by an international panel of leading authorities in the field, it is an authoritative resource for cardiologists, internists, residents, and students. The book presents the clinical examination of the patient, including diagnostic testing and cutting-edge radiologic imaging; pathogenesis and treatment of various types of cardiac abnormalities; the needs of special populations, including pregnant, elderly, and renal-compromised patients; cardiovascular gene and cell therapy; and preventive cardiology. It includes new chapters on cardiovascular disease in women; diabetes and the cardiovascular system; and cancer therapy-induced cardiomyopathy. The Third Edition also focuses on the substantial advances in anti-platelet and anticoagulant therapy; new modalities of cardiac imaging; new anti-arrhythmic drugs; and a sophisticated understanding of vascular biology and atherogenesis.