This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Congestive Heart Failure/ Cardiomyopathy  • Alert me on articles by topic

Edited by William T. Abraham and Henry Krum.
322 pp, $85.95.
New York, NY, McGraw-Hill Medical, 2007.
ISBN-13 978-0-0714-4315-9.

JAMA. 2008;299(6):699-700.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chronic heart failure is a public health problem of epidemic proportions. According to the American Heart Association, more than 5 million persons in the United States have this diagnosis. With an incidence of 600 000 new diagnoses yearly, and more than 1 million heart failure–related hospitalizations, the annual cost exceeds $33 billion. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, both the prevalence of heart failure and the attendant costs to society will increase. There have been numerous publications addressing various aspects of heart failure, but a text that is comprehensive, current, and concise would be desirable for today's busy clinician.

Consisting of 22 chapters with 34 authors representing more than 20 institutions, topics in this textbook range from the definition, causes, and pathophysiology of heart failure to pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies. In the first chapter, the evolving definitions of the clinical syndrome are elegantly discussed and an historical perspective is provided. This . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Ruth Falik, MD, Reviewer
Department of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Ben Taub General Hospital
Houston, Texas
rfalik@bcm.edu