Catheterization of the Heart and Coronary Arteriography
Catheterization of the Heart and Coronary Arteriography A catheter is simply a long, thin, hollow tube of any kind. It’s possible to thread a catheter up a vein or an…
Medical Treatment of Heart Failure
Medical Treatment of Heart Failure This chapter is included here for a good reason. By now the reader should understand what happens when the pumping action of the heart fails….
Cardiac Arrhythmias
Cardiac Arrhythmias To understand the disorders of heart rhythm, it’s essential to see them recorded in the electrocardiogram. Without this remarkable device, modern diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias would…
To Pace or Not to Pace
To Pace or Not to Pace Cardiac pacemakers represent one of the great accomplishments of 20th-century cardiology. Before pacemakers were available, there was no treatment for diseases that produced a…
Congenital Heart Disease
Congenital Heart Disease Why are some children born with abnormal hearts? Sometimes we can answer this agonizing question; sometimes we can’t. Certain infections during early fetal life can produce various…
Imaginary Heart Disease
Imaginary Heart Disease Syndrome X A 50-year-old woman feels pain behind her breastbone when she walks or cleans house. The pain is pressing, “like someone squeezing her chest.” When she…
Pulmonary Heart Disease
Pulmonary Heart Disease This chapter is about the way chronic lung disease affects the cardiovascular system. Many kinds of lung disease create a barrier to the flow of blood from…
Pregnancy and Heart Disease
Pregnancy and Heart Disease Pregnancy and labor increase the workload on the heart for several reasons. The chief one is that the heart has to pump more blood to meet…
Rheumatic Heart Disease
Rheumatic Heart Disease Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease were major causes of death and disability throughout the world 50 years ago. Today, rheumatic fever is so rare in the…
The Electrocardiogram
The Electrocardiogram Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram In Chapter 8 on coronary artery disease, the electrocardiogram (ECG) bowed on stage because it is very useful in diagnosing myocardial infarction and other…
