Resynchronization and Defibrillation for Heart Failure: A Practical Approach

Resynchronization and Defibrillation for Heart Failure: A Practical Approach is one of the first texts to provide caregivers with information about the background and application of this new and rapidly expanding discipline. Its four authors are cardiologists who have expertise in device management, electrophysiology, and heart failure management. The text integrates the approach and management experience of the authors’ three institutions. The aim is to bring together information from subspecialists in device management, electrophysiology, and heart failure management in an effort to facilitate the care of the patient with CRT.

Resynchronization and Defibrillation for Heart Failure: A Practical Approach is one of the first texts to provide caregivers with information about the background and application of this new and rapidly expanding discipline. Its four authors are cardiologists who have expertise in device management, electrophysiology, and heart failure management. The text integrates the approach and management experience of the authors’ three institutions. The aim is to bring together information from subspecialists in device management, electrophysiology, and heart failure management in an effort to facilitate the care of the patient with CRT.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Magdi Mohamed Saba, MB, BCh, MSc(Ochsner Clinic Foundation)
Description:This book addresses the nuances of device therapy for heart failure, with a focus on cardiac resynchronization therapy. It takes the reader from an overview of current knowledge in heart failure pathophysiology to the rubrics of device implantation and optimization. The first two chapters provide the rationale for resynchronization therapy, while subsequent chapters review the available technology and methods. The latter chapters discuss the future of device therapy in heart failure.
Purpose:The purpose is to compile the existing knowledge in the emerging field of resynchronization therapy for heart failure into one accessible book.
Audience:This is an advanced manual for the practicing electrophysiologist or heart failure specialist with an interest in device therapy, as well as cardiovascular fellows intent upon grasping the concepts of this field. Cardiologists with minimal knowledge as well as those facile with device therapy will find this book of interest.
Features:Trials of defibrillator therapy are discussed rather briefly, inasmuch as combination therapy appears to be the preferred modality. Particular emphasis is placed on the intricacies of coronary sinus lead placement, with an abundance of valuable illustrations to accompany the text. A chapter is devoted to atrio-ventricular and ventriculo-ventricular timing optimization and another to the central role played by echocardiography in patient/device matching for optimal results. In the final chapter, concise answers are given to specific issues in a Q&A format. Illustrations are of superb quality and add a great deal to the value of this book.
Assessment:This concise book approaches device therapy for heart failure from a practical perspective, providing the reader with the requisites for optimal care of the patient with advanced heart failure through available technology.

David L. Hayes, MD, is Consultant, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Samuel J. Asirvatham, MD, is Senior Associate Consultant and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Paul J. Wang, MD is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA.

Jonathan D. Sackner-Bernstein, MD, is the Associate Chief of Cardiology and the Director of the Heart Failure Program at St. Lukes's - Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City; and an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA.