Cardiovascular Physiology

This compact text succeeds admirably in its declared aim of delineating for medical and other graduate students the essentials of cardiovascular function. Eleven succinct chapters cover general concepts with emphasis on control mechanisms, while the 12th chapter demonstrates how these operate as a whole in response to illustrative interventions, both physiologic (exercise) and pathologic (hemorrhage). With the exception of the latter, and earlier consideration of atrioventricular and intraventricular blocks, the text is confined to normal physiology.

The authors have deliberately simplified their approach. Footnotes and documentary references are largely omitted as are the relatively minor embellishments which would have required them. Recommended reading at the end of each chapter includes well-chosen general and review articles. Thus, broad principles are effectively communicated, giving the reader a satisfactory framework for clinical understanding on which he can build in areas in which he may later wish to penetrate more deeply.

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