The Treatment of Acute Myocardial Ischemia: An Integrated Medical/Surgical Approach

This book brings together information authored by colleagues at Peter Pent Brigham Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In chapter 1 the editor states, "This monograph should again be considered as a state-of-the-art report regarding diagnosis, treatment and pathophysiology of myocardial ischemia; it represents an effort to collate and correlate the essential material of this field into one book by one medical/surgical unit." The authors do present many important concepts emphasizing the critical integration between medical and surgical disciplines in patient care. However, the reader will find the chapter organization and content less integrated.

The book has eight chapters. Chapter 2 provides a good review of the pathology of myocardial ischemia. Chapter 3 on pathophysiology and (the timely) modification of infarct size discusses biochemistry with a scarcity of pathophysiology to prepare the reader for the next chapter on emergency revascularization techniques or the following one on the management of unstable angina.