Main description:

Heart failure has become an increasing focus for a wide range of physicians as the number of patients with chronic ischemic and nonischemic structural heart disease increases. The management of arrhythmias in this population has thus become a topic of great interest as the range and complexity of therapeutic options increases. The goal of this book is to provide a concise 'state of the art' summary of medical therapy and implantable device management for the control of arrhythmias and conduction disorders associated with heart failure. Each chapter will be written by a recognized expert summarizing current knowlege in the area, and ending with practical guidelines for patient care. The target audience for the book will not only be specialists in electrophysiology and heart failure, but also internists, family practitioners, students and residents who require an introduction and summary of the burgeoning clinical data in this field.Each chapter will be approximately 15-20 pages in length, and will follow an outline provided by the editor to assure comprehensive coverage and uniformity of approach.
An emphasis will be placed on summary guidelines and practical tips for ease managment. The opening chapter will summarize the foundations of optimal medical management in the heart failure patient. The next four chapters will cover various aspects of cardiac resynchronization therapy, including basic concepts, implant techniques, clinical trial results, and practical aspects of patient selection and management.The next three chapters will focus on ICD therapy in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure, including an introductory chapter on epidemiology, and one each for patients with ischemic and nonischemic myopathies. The final two chapters will focus on pathophysiology, epidemiology and pharmacologic managment, and the second covering nonpharmacologic management. The unique feature of this book will be to bring together in a single volume a broad range of information from all of these areas. Currently, such data is scattered amongst medical journals and subspecialty texts. There is no book of similar scope available or currently planned. Thus there is a unique niche that this book will fill.

Contents:

1) Optimal Medical Management of Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction and Heart Failure - Mariel Jessup, MD, University of Pennsylvania 2) Ventricular Arrhythmias: Epidemiology of Sudden Death and Risk Stratification 3) Ventricular Arrhythmias: ICD Therapy 4) Ventricular Arrhythmias: Pharmacologic Therapy and Catheter Ablation 5) Cardiac Resynchronization: Basic Concepts - David Kass, Johns Hopkins 6) Cardiac Resynchronization: Clinical Trials and Current Indications - Leslie Saxon, MD, University of Southern California 7) Cardiac Resynchronization: Therapy Optimization and New Applications 8) Atrial Fibrillation: Pathophysiology and Pharmacologic Management - Eric Prystowsky, MD, The Care Group 9) Atrial Fibrillation: Nonpharmacologic Therapy - Andrea Natale, Cleveland Clinic