Endocarditis: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Modern Treatment is a comprehensive review of the diagnosis and management of endocarditis. Because modern treatment of endocarditis usually takes a team approach, this review includes contributions from experts in cardiology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular pathology, neurology, and cardiovascular surgery. Each article reviews a specific subject area in the diagnosis or management of this condition.
The 1st section reviews the scientific foundation for the study of endocarditis. Included are detailed discussions of the cardiovascular effects of sepsis and of valvular destruction due to endocarditis. There is a review of the pathology and clinical laboratory findings seen in endocarditis, and several papers consider the epidemiology of native valve and prosthetic valve endocarditis.
The 2nd section includes several articles about the diagnosis of endocarditis. A general review of the clinical manifestations of both native valve and prosthetic valve endocarditis is presented, and the older Von Reyne criteria for diagnosis of endocarditis are compared with the newer Duke criteria. This section also includes a discussion of the diagnosis and management of the neurologic complications associated with this disease.
The next 2 sections consider the management of endocarditis. One article is devoted to a general overview of the medical management and prevention of endocarditis. Subsequent articles relate the specific problems encountered with endocarditis of native aortic and mitral valves, and with right heart endocarditis, which is commonly seen in intravenous drug abusers, and the latest surgical techniques for its treatment. The unique problems associated with prosthetic valve endocarditis are reviewed in detail. Finally, special problems such as fungal endocarditis and endocarditis in children are discussed.
Each article is well referenced and the index readily helps the reader to locate topics of interest. Numerous tables, drawings, and histopathologic slides support the articles, and their use is greatly enhanced by a color appendix at the end of the text. This book is an excellent, comprehensive resource for any physician who must deal with the complexities of endocarditis.