Treatment of heart diseases is a vast and dynamic topic. The editors, who are experienced pharmacologists (one of them is a cardiologist), have provided a comprehensive coverage of pharmacotherapy of heart diseases backed by a review of the pathophysiologic basis of the disease and therapy. Such a book would be of immense value for physicians treating heart disease and allied professionals in pharmaceutical and biomedical backgrounds who have an interest in cardiology. The book is divided into eight sections which are disease oriented and the individual chapters in each section are authored by experienced authors from medicine, pharmacology and physiology backgrounds.
Although the title of the book makes no mention of recent advances, the content clearly leans more towards recent advances. These are mostly covered in depth and so it is useful for those looking at keeping abreast of the latest trends in pathophysiological concepts or therapeutic options. Sometimes though, obscure and experimental therapies have been given undue importance at the expense of more established and important ones.
The challenge with a large book with chapters written by different authors is to keep the content cohesive with a uniform intent. While the editors have achieved this to a large extent, there are some deficiencies in this regard. There is a lack of uniformity about restricting therapeutic options to only pharmacological therapies or including non-pharmacological interventions also. Treatment of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, for example, makes mention only of pharmacological options and does not cover ablation which is an established treatment. On the other hand, there is an entire chapter on mechanical devices for left atrial appendage closure. And pharmacotherapy of atrial fibrillation is very incomplete, mentioning only individual antiarrhythmic drugs, with no mention of anticoagulants or the debate of rate versus rhythm control. The division into sections may give rise to repetition and incorrect allotment of chapters. The chapter on troponins whose major clinical importance is in coronary artery disease, appears not to fit well in the heart failure section.
For practising physicians or students wanting an overview of cardiac therapeutics and pathophysiology, this book may not be quickly referable because of the large content. However, as a reference book and for researchers and basic science students, who are looking for comprehensive coverage of cutting edge aspects, this book will prove a valuable resource as recent advances are covered well by experts in the respective fields.