Stress Echocardiography

Over the past twenty years, stress echocardiography has developed into a well-established technique that is versatile, patient friendly, and relatively inexpensive. This new, extensively revised and enlarged edition of Stress Echocardiography documents all of the very significant advances made since the fourth edition. The early chapters place the technique within a historical context and describe its pathophysiological basis. Thereafter, all aspects of stress echocardiography are discussed, clearly and in detail, by the distinguished pioneer, Eugenio Picano, and other contributors carefully selected for their expertise. Both mainstream and emerging applications are explained, and systematic comparisons with competing and complementary cardiac imaging techniques are provided. The text is supported by a large number of high-quality illustrations. This book is invaluable not only to cardiologists but also to non-experts, such as technicians and students.

Over the past twenty years, under the impetus of technological innovations and the drive for cost-effectiveness, stress echocardiography has developed into a well-established technique that is versatile, patient friendly, and relatively inexpensive. This growth has been reflected in the increasing size of past editions of Stress Echocardiography, all of which have been praised for their clarity and scope. This fifth edition of the book has been extensively revised and updated to reflect the further progress achieved over the past few years. The early chapters place the technique within a historical context and describe its pathophysiological basis. Thereafter, all aspects of stress echocardiography are discussed, clearly and in detail, by the distinguished pioneer, Eugenio Picano, and other contributors carefully selected for their expertise in the topic under consideration. Both mainstream and emerging applications are explained, and systematic comparisons with competing and complementary cardiac imaging techniques are provided from a clinically oriented perspective. The text is supported by a CD-ROM and a large number of high-quality illustrations. This book will be invaluable not only to cardiologists but also to non-experts such as technicians and students.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Ali Morshedi, MD(Ochsner Clinic Foundation)
Description:This book explores the principles of stress echocardiography, explains the various forms of this modality, and its use in different subgroups of patients. The first edition, a single-author 100-page book, was published in 1991. This fourth edition is 500 pages and includes contributions from authors from 11 countries.
Purpose:The book argues that stress echocardiography is reliable, safe, and economical. Showing that stress echocardiography has the capability of not only improving the diagnostic standard but also saving money is a worthy objective. This goal was achieved not only by comparing the results of stress echocardiography with nuclear imaging and coronary angiography, but also by showing how one can improve the results of the test by directing one's attention to key features in performing the test and analyzing the results.
Audience:This book is principally aimed at cardiologists, fellows-in-training, and echocardiographers. It guides the reader from the most basic elements of stress echocardiography to the most advanced and technical levels. It is written and organized so that readers with different backgrounds can enjoy it and benefit from it. The contributing authors are extensively published and recognized authorities in this field. The principal author, Dr. Picano, is a senior medical researcher of the Italian National Council and Editor-in-Chief of Biomed Central Netjournal cardiovascular ultrasound.
Features:In 39 chapters, the book explains the principles of stress echocardiography, describes the various forms of this procedure, introduces the newest technology (tissue harmonic, tissue Doppler, and strain rate), and finally discusses the use of this modality in subsets of patients (women, dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, etc). It liberally uses figures, tables and images to enhance the reader's understanding of the subject. The text is fluent and well organized. Many current educational materials combine text and multimedia devices such as CD-ROMs to enhance the reader's understanding. A companion CD-ROM would, for example, have been an excellent way to demonstrate an actual wall motion abnormality on a motion clip. Unfortunately, this book comes with no such accompaniment.
Assessment:This excellent book covers every aspect of stress echocardiography and provides its readers with an in-depth knowledge of the field, improves their understanding and enhances their ability to interpret the results.

The author is Director of the Pisa Institute of Clinical Physiology of the Italian National Research Council. He is/was present or past editorial board member or guest editor of Circulation, Journal American College of Cardiology, European Journal Echocardiography, Journal of American Society of Echocardiography. He is founder and editor-in-chief of the Biomed Central, ISI-tracked, journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound.