Field of medicine: Cardiovascular medicine.

Format: Hardcover book.

Audience: Cardiologists, internal medicine practitioners, residents, and cardiology fellows.

Purpose: To provide an up-to-date, state-of-the-art review of atrial fibrillation and flutter from its basic mechanisms to the clinical problems encountered in treating it.

Content: This multiauthor text from a distinguished group of investigators attempts to integrate basic and clinical observations in atrial fibrillation and to develop new concepts for dealing with the mechanisms and treatment of this arrhythmia. It covers basic electrophysiologic mechanisms, autonomic effects, classifications of atrial fibrillation and flutter, clinical presentations, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies.

Highlights: There is an excellent chapter on the complex three-dimensional anatomy of the atria and its relation to atrial fibrillation and temporal patterns of wave propagation. The section on the nonpharmacologic therapy of atrial tachyarrhythmias provides an excellent review of various techniques, including catheter ablation, atrial defibrillators, and surgical treatment. The text succeeds in integrating basic and clinical electrophysiologic observations and applying them to the treatment of patients.

Limitations: The limitations of this text relate directly to the limitations of our knowledge and insight into the electrophysiology of atrial fibrillation.

Context: This text complements other recent texts in the field. Atrial Fibrillation: Mechanisms and Management, 2nd edition, by Falk and Podrid (Lippincott-Raven, 1997), deals more with clinical problems in atrial fibrillation. Nonpharmacological Management of Atrial Fibrillation, by Murgatroyd and Camm (Futura, 1997), is devoted entirely to the nonpharmacologic treatment of atrial tachyarrhythmias. Atrial Flutter and Fibrillation, which brings into focus electrophysiologic mechanisms and the importance of the insight they provide in treating patients with atrial fibrillation, is a valuable addition to a growing body of literature.

Reviewer: John F. Moran, MD, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois.