Pathophysiology of Heart Disease: A Collaborative Project of Medical Students and Faculty 
asked by vladi on November 10, 2006 11:10 PM
Now in its Third Edition, Pathophysiology of Heart Disease is a concise introduction to diseases of the cardiovascular system. Introductory chapters review basic cardiac anatomy and physiology, heart sounds and murmurs, imaging and catheterization techniques, and the electrocardiogram. Early chapters review the structure and function of the heart. The main body of the book addresses the major groups of cardiovascular disease: atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, valvular heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, mechanisms of arrhythmias and their diagnosis, hypertension, diseases of the pericardium, diseases of peripheral vasculature, and congenital heart disease. The last chapter of the book is devoted to cardiovascular drugs.
Reviews
To put it simply this book is the BEST cardiology book for any medical student wanting to really learn and understand the complex topics that can come up in the field. It breaks down all the topics in simple format and gives you the physiology before each chapter. Not to mention it has all the cardiac pharmacology that you will need to know now, for the boards and then some.
reviewed by mountaindew on November 20, 2006 10:55 PM
My classmates generally do not like buying books in their first two years of coursework, since we are issued coursenotes. I knew, however, that this book was a must-buy when people always made reference to it as "the Bible".
This book is short and sweet, doing a great job covering basics like electrophysiology, the theory of the ECG, atheroscleorsis, coronary artery disease and MIs, congestive heart failure, and pharmacotherapy. One reviewer mentioned that this book will not let you just up and interpret ECGs, which is true. However, that takes quite a bit of practice and goes beyond this book's scope. What the book does do is provide a good explanation of some basics principles underlying the ECG's use that makes their interpretation a little more intuitive, rather than just looking at arbitrary squiggles.
This book is the real deal, and should be up on your shelf with other big names like Harrison's and Robbins.
reviewed by imtheboss on November 26, 2006 5:22 AM
