Acquired Heart Diseases
Acquired Heart Diseases “Don’t attempt to make a patient better faster than it took the patient to become ill” Rheumatic Fever Acute rheumatic fever is a multisystem inflammatory disorder resulting…
Obstructive and Regurgitant Lesions
Obstructive and Regurgitant Lesions “One cannot know how to treat a disease until one understands the natural history of the disease” Aortic Stenosis and Insufficiency Incidence and Types There are…
Left-to-Right Shunts
Left-to-Right Shunts “A surgeon knows how to operate, a good surgeon knows when to operate, and an excellent surgeon know when not to operate” A left-to-right shunt exists when blood…
Principles of Inheritance and Genetics of Congenital Heart Disease
Principles of Inheritance and Genetics of Congenital Heart Disease “Pick a rare disease and study it” Principles of Inheritance of Congenital Heart Disease Multifactorial Inheritance Most forms of congenital heart…
Syncope and Sudden Death
Syncope and Sudden Death “The coroner’s jury sat upon the corpse, and, like sensible men, returned an unassailable verdict of ‘sudden death.’” –Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables…
Chest Pain
Chest Pain “The pathway to Hell is not paved with good intention. The pathway to Hell is paved with uncontrolled clinical trials.” Abdominal pain, leg pain (“growing pains”), headache, and…
Innocent Murmurs
Innocent Murmurs “One needs to know what is normal before one can know what is abnormal” Most children, at some time, will have a heart murmur. However, very few of…
Basic Diagnostic Studies
Basic Diagnostic Studies “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” Electrocardiography Numerous excellent textbooks on electrocardiography have been written, and this section is not intended to compete with or…
Pediatric Exercise Testing
Pediatric Exercise Testing “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will, sooner or later, have to find time for illness” Accurate and reproducible measurement of work performance…
Clinical Evaluation
Clinical Evaluation “Listen to what patients are saying because they are telling you the diagnosis” In most cases, it is difficult to arrive at an accurate anatomic diagnosis of the…
