Hypertension: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease, 4th Edition

By: George L. Bakris, MD, MA; Matthew Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FAHA; Luke J. Laffin, MD, FACC

ISBN: 9780323883696

Publication Date: January 24, 2024

Reviewer: Jonathan Rzonzew, MD Candidate (Universidad San Francisco de Quito)

Description

The book covers the basics, diagnostics, and treatment of hypertension. The accompanying website resource includes the electronic version of the text (eBook) with roughly the same information contained in the main text. The previous edition was published in 2017.

Purpose

This book provides a comprehensive guide on hypertension reviewing basic epidemiology and pathophysiology to up-to-date precision diagnostic guidelines and state-of-the-art treatment regimens for various patient populations.

Additionally, it includes a precise overview of the management of hypertension in patients with other medical ailments. The objectives are of utmost importance in the world of preventive and therapeutic medicine. This book serves as an excellent guide to address these issues. The printed version of the text is neat, well-distributed, and provides an easy-to-follow representation of charts, algorithms, and graphs that are reader-friendly. The book meets the objectives in an excellent way. It serves as a robust overview yet at the same time as a concise guide in the management of everyday problems and complex scenarios in clinical medicine.

Audience

The primary audience of this text is physicians dealing with patients with hypertension including general physicians, cardiologists, internists, and nephrologists. The book meets the needs of its intended audience, and the authors are experts in the field who rely on valuable, up-to-date references to complement their discourse.

Features

This book includes eight sections subdivided into chapters. Sections one and two focus on basic science including epidemiology, preventive strategies, and pathophysiology. Section three covers extensive diagnostic evaluations and interpretations, while section four provides risk stratification for patients based on their diagnosis. Sections five through eight dive into the management of hypertension, covering general approaches and strategies to detailed therapies in patients with comorbidities and special populations. The charts and algorithms provide an easy-to-follow strategy for patient diagnosis, stratification, and treatment in extensive scenarios. The algorithms are a ready diagnostic tool that can be referred to in various clinical scenarios and provide an easy-to-follow strategy for individual patient management. The information is written in an eloquent way that facilitates paced reading and comprehensive integration of the topics throughout the chapters. The text does a good job of correlating the previously mentioned diagnostic techniques and strategies with the resulting risk stratification for specific patient management. The book covers the topic extensively, even in special populations and scenarios. The algorithmic presentation and charting of diagnostic strategies improve the referencing ability of the reader and allow the text to be used as a guide in the office. The revised risk stratification included in the latest edition allows for improvement in clinician therapeutic strategies. The review of special populations is valuable as it covers the increase in the incidence of multi-organ diseases relating to hypertension, particularly in nephrology and endocrinology. The book also covers hypertensive management in pregnancy and provides a well-described approach to reducing mortality and morbidity in these patients and their offspring.

Assessment

This is an invaluable resource for physicians and specialists that provides authoritative guidance on every aspect of the management and treatment of patients with hypertensive disorders. The charts and algorithms provide an easy-to-follow strategy for patient diagnosis, stratification, and treatment in extensive scenarios. Comparable titles on this topic cover similar information as this text, but this book does the job of integrating the basic science component of the disease (e.g. pathophysiology) with the clinical application of the findings (treatment strategies and prevention). The book provides insight on non-cardiac complications of hypertension and briefly discusses its implications and approach, which are topics not usually covered in comparable titles. Even though the description of these comorbidities and multi-organ diseases is brief, it serves the purpose of the book, and its expansion would probably overbear the reader. The updated edition is a necessary revision of the topic as it covers the most recent updates in hypertensive disorders screening and diagnostics. The website provides an electronic version of the book. It includes the same information and components; however, it does not expand in the context of the print version by offering video lectures, audio media, or other resources.

©Doody’s Review Service, 2024, Jonathan Rzonzew, MD Candidate (Universidad San Francisco de Quito), Doody’s Score: 96 – 4 Stars!

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