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Diagnostic Atlas of the Heart
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Second edition. J. Willis Hurst and Joseph S. Alpert; eds. 559 pages. New York: Raven Press; 1994. $150.00.
In an effort to prove that the Chinese proverb "one picture is worth a thousand words" holds true for contemporary cardiology, more than 1100 colored photographs are included in this pictorial presentation of cardiovascular disease. The Atlas draws heavily on photographs of pathologic and surgical specimens, supplemented by angiographic, radiographic, echocardiographic, and electrocardiographic materials, to form its 27 chapters. Since the last edition 6 years ago, chapters have been added on myocardial remodeling, low- and high-output heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and electrophysiology, venous disease, and cocaine and the heart. Chapters remaining from the previous edition have been substantially revised and, in many instances, totally rewritten. The chapters on cocaine and the heart and cardiac arrhythmias are outstanding scholarly contributions; the authors expanded the figures and tables to include useful explanations of cardiovascular pathophysiology. The written text is minimal by design and superficially covers the essential anatomy, physiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnostic testing needed to understand the cardiovascular condition. Although the color quality of the photographs of the pathology specimens, echocardiograms, and angiograms is excellent, the electrocardiographic images are small and not as well produced. Treatment sections, which were delivered in an abbreviated form in previous editions, have been entirely eliminated to emphasize diagnosis, pathophysiology, and pathology. The figure legends contain salient points about each cardiovascular condition.
This book is a unique contribution to the cardiology literature and serves as a practical supplement to the standard textbooks for students of cardiovascular disease at any level of training or experience. By omitting all discussions of therapy, the authors have avoided the problems of outdated or inaccurate treatment recommendations. However, it would have been preferable to provide principles of therapy for each condition without getting into specific recommendations. More so than with the previous edition, this book needs to be used hand-in-hand with a standard textbook of cardiovascular disease.
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