The Practice of Clinical Echocardiography, 6th Edition

By: Otto, Catherine M., MD

ISBN: 9780323697286

Pub Date: July 22, 2021

Reviewed By: Matthew Alan Colna, MD (East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine)

Description

This is a comprehensive practical guide to clinical echocardiography. It attempts to serve as a reference guide to echocardiography data acquisition and interpretation as well as the role of echocardiography in clinical decision making. This is the sixth edition and reflects new clinical knowledge, updated guidelines, and advancement in advanced echocardiographic imaging.

Purpose

The purpose is to provide a reference guide to echocardiography and the use of echocardiography in clinical decision making. The book aims to address a multitude of aspects in cardiovascular medicine with a focus on echocardiography. It adequately covers the proposed objectives to solidify the concepts with the use of detailed text and visual aids to outline the principles and approaches to the use of echocardiography in complex clinical decision making. The use of detailed graphics, charts, and graphs provides excellent visual aids to guide physician understanding.

Audience

This book specifically addresses the use of echocardiography and, thus, the intended audience of this book includes cardiologists and cardiology fellows.

The level of the writing is appropriate for the intended audience. The authors and contributors are respected cardiologists and professors of cardiology.

Features

The book is separated into seven sections each addressing a specific topic. The first section is compiled of six chapters detailing the advanced principles of the echocardiographer including topics such as 3D image acquisition, principles of myocardial mechanics and strain, the utilization of contrast imaging as well as chapters detailing the function of the left and right ventricles. The second section is made up of five chapters detailing the best practices of echocardiography including laboratory design and setup, comprehensive transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, as well as interoperative, interventional, and bedside echocardiography. The remaining sections are divided into specific cardiovascular topics. Section 3 has seven chapters detailing the use of echocardiography in the setting of cardiomyopathies, tumors, and pericardial diseases. Section 4 covers ischemic heart disease in three detailed chapters. The following section, section 5, utilizes 10 chapters that thoroughly cover valvular heart disease including native valve disease, prosthetic valve disease, and infective endocarditis. Section 6 details the aspects of vascular and systemic diseases including atrial fibrillation, acute aortic syndromes, pulmonary hypertension, and systemic hypertension among others. The final section, section 7, focuses on adult congenital heart disease and the pregnant patient. This book provides comprehensive reference on a multitude of cardiovascular topics with a focus on the utilization of echocardiography in the clinical decision-making process. The use of figures, charts, and graphics significantly help readers solidify their understanding of the text.

Assessment

The quality of the content of the book is excellent. Given the complexity of the text and subject manner, this book is a valuable resource for cardiologists and cardiology fellows to further their knowledge and understanding of echocardiography. The text is organized in a way that allows readers to build an advancing framework to better grasp more advanced topics. The sixth edition provides updated guidelines and treatment strategies based on up-to-date research that was not present in the previous edition.

©Doody’s Review Service, 2021, Matthew Alan Colna, MD (East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine)

Doody’s Score: 99 – 5 Stars!

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