Echocardiography in Adult Surgery

99 T his book offers a clear and concise treatment of echocardiography of the heart from the perspective of the cardiac surgeon. The authors emphasize the idea that the cardiac surgeon should be familiar with the technology of ultrasound to augment his or her ability to diagnose and treat cardiac disease requiring surgery. They do so in a superb manner with well-written text and with many illustrations, pictures, and ultrasound images. The book has 28 chapters, well organized into three sections: general principles of echocardiography, clinical applications of echocardiography, and applications of echocardiography in cardiac surgery. The first section explains the physics, instrumentation and basic examination techniques as well as what is reasonable training and accreditation. In later chapters, cardiac surgeons who have not used echocardiography, will be impressed by the degree that this modality increased the ability to assess clinical problems. Echocardiography enables the operator to better select surgical candidates and plan the best surgical techniques to use in those requiring cardiac surgery. The application of ultrasonographic diagnostic tools by the surgeon is also helpful in the intensive care setting where it can be used to evaluate operative results and to evaluate postoperative complications. The authors include both surgeons and cardiologists from the UK, Europe, the US, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. All chapters are thoroughly referenced, and the quality of the print and illustrations is excellent. This book will be a great addition to the library of the car-dio-thoracic surgeon.