Edited by Joan Llevadot González-Elsevier España, S.A., Madrid: Spain, 2004; 364 pages, 184 figures, and 78 tables. ISBN 84-8174-647-9.
Acute coronary syndrome remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity in developed societies and accounts for a large part of the health budget. In recent years, the findings of extensive experimental and clinical research have directly influenced clinical practice, therefore, publication of a comprehensive up-to-date treatise about this syndrome is pertinent.
Dr Joan Llevadot covers 7 topics--epidemiology, anatomy, pathophysiology, risk factors, diagnosis and prognostic stratification, treatment, and future perspectives--in 13 chapters. The topic of future perspectives refers to new diagnostic techniques, myocardial regeneration and cell therapy, as well as new perspectives in percutaneous coronary intervention and surgery.
The editor has succeeded in obtaining contributions from prestigious clinics and investigators in Barcelona and the United States. For example, authors include Dr R. Corti, J.J. Badimon, and Dr V. Fuster (Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York) for the chapter entitled "Pathophysiology of coronary disorders" and Dr J. Cogan, Dr C.P. Cannon, and Dr J.A. de Lemos (Harvard Medical School, Boston) for the chapter entitled "Treatment of unstable angina and non-ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction." The internal cohesion of the book is helped because the editor himself has contributed to the writing of 7 of the 13 chapters.
A preliminary read through the book agreeably impresses with the quality of the editing, which is careful and supported by an excellent and extensive set of color images. The text is simple and didactic, even though many of the topics incorporate the most recent important discoveries, with extensive and up-to-date references that include citations from 2003. Inevitably though, no sooner is the book off the press than it lags behind certain developments, as has happened for example with the drug-eluting stents. Also, for future editions, some chapters are large enough to benefit from an index at the beginning.
This is an excellent exhaustive and up-to-date book on acute coronary syndromes. The book, as indicated by Dr E. Braunwald in the prologue, should be of interest to any specialist who has to deal with this disease, whether they be cardiologists, intensivists, or internists. The fact that it is written in Spanish is an additional advantage for those of us are more comfortable with Spanish than English.