The 5th edition of the Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine has been extensively updated and revised. Our goal has been to make this an easy-to-use, up-to-date, portable reference for all those involved in the management of cardiovascular disease. We have included current guidelines from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology and other national and international cardiovascular societies where appropriate. We appreciate the feedback we have received concerning prior editions and suggestions as to how to improve the book. We have tried to update this edition without expanding the number of pages too much as we are mindful that many use it as a pocket reference.
This manual has been written by the current and past fellows and staff of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. We wish to thank all those who contributed to this and previous editions. Our section editors (Thomas Callahan, Leslie Cho, Esther Kim, David Majdalany, and Wilson Tang) have done a great job in ensuring that the various chapters are topical and comprehensive yet concise. As in all prior editions, our chief fellows (Newton Wiggins, Joseph Bumgarner, and Chetan Huded) have worked as Guest Editors and have done a fine job in coordinating their peers to produce updates in a timely fashion. Many of our faculty have contributed to this manual, and we thank them and all our wonderful colleagues in the Heart and Vascular Institute. We wish to thank Lois Adamski, the educational coordinator of the Cardiovascular Disease Training Program at Cleveland Clinic, for having anchored the program over many years. Sharon Zinner and Emily Buccieri and everyone at Wolters Kluwer have been wonderful to work with.
We are deeply grateful for the philanthropic support we have received for the educational and academic activities of our fellows and faculty. We especially thank John and Rosemary Brown for endowing a Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine that has helped us continue this manual. Mr and Mrs Robert Tomsich have endowed the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and have provided funding to support fellowship academic activity, as has the late Mr Gus Karos and his family. Dr Mehdi Razavi, the first program director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Training Program at Cleveland Clinic, and Dr Curtis Rimmerman have been faithful supporters of the fellows, and we are deeply grateful to them and all the benefactors of our training program. We also thank Dr Lars Svensson, Chair, Heart and Vascular Institute, and Dr Steve Nissen, Chair, Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, for their support.
Finally, we wish to express our immense gratitude to our families without whose support, patience, and fortitude this and all other endeavors would have been impossible.
Brian P. Griffin