Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a major cause of human mortality and morbidity worldwide. Classical risk factors for atherosclerosis fail to account fully for the wide variations in CHD prevalence and/or severity between differing populations. The search for hitherto unrecognised risk factors has recently focused on the potential role of chronic inflammation and common infections.
Chronic Infection, Chlamydia and Coronary Heart Disease is the first book to review the wealth of evidence linking various infective agents with CHD, focusing particularly on the proposed...

In Heart Cell Communication in Health and Disease an extensive review of different aspects of heart cell communication is presented. The book starts with the fundamental concept that cardiac cells are communicated, and then proceeds to the role of gap junctions in heart development, the molecular biology of gap junctions, the biophysics of the intercellular channels, the control of junctional conductance and the influence of gap junctions on impulse propagation.
This is the first time that a single volume has described cell communication in the normal heart and under different...

The electrocardiogram (ECG) remains the most accessible and inexpensive diagnostic tool to evaluate the patient presenting with symptoms suggestive of acute myocardial ischemia. It plays a crucial role in decision making about the aggressiveness of therapy especially in relation to reperfusion therapy, because such therapy has resulted in a considerable reduction in mortality from acute myocardial infarction. Several factors play a role in the amount of myocardial tissue that can be salvaged by reperfusion therapy, such as the time interval between onset of coronary occlusion and reperfusion,...

Teleologically, the hemostatic mechanism is among The of Coronary Thrombosis and the most fundamental yet complex physiologic pro- in essence, represents a heartfelt gift of cesses in humans. Early scientists and physicians were knowledge from a dedicated group of scientists and fascinated by the blood's ability to remain in a liquid clinicians, who collectively have set out on a mission state only to clot in response to vascular injury. The to minimize the societal impact of"hemostasis in the cellular and noncellular components of normal wrong place. " The book is divided into four distinct...

Complete reference on hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and hypoxia-mediated pulmonary hypertension.

Can be utilized by the physician-scientist and researcher in the laboratory as both a technical manual and reference.

Designed for clinicians to guide and improve clinical treatment and diagnosis of patients with hypoxia mediated pulmonary vascular disease and right heart failure.

Myocardial viability has become one of the most important issues in clinical cardiology. In particular, absence or presence of viability may be decisive in patient management, and the decision to perform angioplasty (PTCA) or bypass surgery (CABG) is frequently based on the accurate assessment of viability. Although echocardiography and conventional nuclear medicine techniques may provide valuable information on viability, positron emission tomography (PET) is currently considered to be the gold standard for the assessment of myocardial viability. The simultaneous evaluation of myocardial...

The promising perspective of MRI in its cardiac applications demands a progressive involvement of both cardiologists and radiologists in this relatively unexplored field. To help in this respect, this atlas provides basic technical information on MRI, an introduction to the strategy of cardiac imaging by MRI and an extensively illustrated review of those entities which represent accepted indications of the technique in practice. A glossary of terms and selected references in each subject are included with the objective of improving its didactic nature. Atlas of Practical Cardiac Applications...

Cardiovascular drug therapy has markedly progressed in the recent decades. Not only have new drugs been introduced to clinical practice, but new classes of drugs have been developed. While in 1960 the practicing cardiolo gist had a selection of about only ten drugs, in 1987 about 150 drugs are routinely used in cardiovascular diseases. Elderly patients, however, usually do not enjoy the full benefit of this progress. This might be due to lack of knowledge, a conservative approach, or the worldwide tendency not to try new drugs in the elderly. It is now clear that the majority of patients that...

Non-Invasive Imaging of Atherosclerosis is a primer, reference and review of some of the key features of current activities in the field of atherosclerosis. The Editors' goal is to provide material and stimulating ideas to basic scientists and clinical researchers in order to extend the application of vascular imaging and to further develop methods suitable for investigation of the arterial wall.
The first section presents current knowledge about pathology, vascular mechanics and compensatory mechanisms active during atherogenesis. It explores the early lesion, complications of...

In this book, the importance and value of accurately assessing coronary stenosis morphology is reviewed, including recent thoughts regarding the pathogenetic mechanisms ascribed to angiographically assessed morphology, several new and potentially more accurate means of determining plaque composition and its relationship to stenosis morphology, and the latest hypotheses regarding interventional device selection.
Each chapter has been written by acknowledged experts in the area, who have contributed significantly to that body of knowledge and are considered opinion leaders nationally and...