This book applies practical clinical concepts to the latest four-stage model of heart failure from preclinical risk and early asymptomatic disease to classic symptomatic heart failure and finally advanced heart failure. This framework emphasizes a tailored approach to ongoing heart failure assessment to guide therapy and improve outcomes.

Review

From a well-known author of multiple publications on cardiovascular disease and research, this book provides comprehensive insights into known etiologies, pathophysiology, clinical presentations, diagnostic procedures, and management strategies for heart failure aimed at clinicians managing these patients and specialists investigating the scientific basis of the various stages of heart failure.

The book fulfills its purpose of providing a deeper understanding of the various stages of heart failure. Its particular strength is the broad, in-depth discussion of clinically relevant topics. Readers will appreciate the illustrative pictures, diagrams, graphs, and tables, which will help in digesting the material.

This is clearly designed for those who routinely care for heart failure patients and advanced level trainees, including cardiologists, researchers, internists, nurse practitioners, and housestaff. The author is an internationally known expert.

After clearly elaborating the epidemiology, morbidity, and mortality associated with heart failure, the book discusses various risk factors that lead to the development of this disease. Then, it provides novel insights into various factors and mechanisms that contribute to the propagation of various stages of heart failure and delivers an overview of available assessment tools and management regimens for each stage of heart failure. Finally, it briefly illustrates how to put the evidence to use in therapeutics for heart failure. It provides the most comprehensive coverage to date of most aspects of the different stages of heart failure, and the interdisciplinary approach makes it valuable to physicians caring for patients with heart failure.

This book underscores the medical importance of recognizing the various stages of heart failure, their economic costs, and the interplay of the various mechanisms/factors involved. It is concise yet comprehensive in its coverage of this important topic. Its spare style lends itself well to the needs of busy physicians who want to quickly look something up related to heart failure.

–Doody Review by Fahad Javed, MD (Ochsner Clinic Foundation)

About the Author

Dr. Jaski is a clinical physician, researcher, and teacher. After earning undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and biology at MIT, he graduated from Harvard Medical School where he subsequently finished his cardiology fellowship at the Brigham and Women s Hospital. Since 1985, he has been the medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant program at Sharp Memorial Hospital associated with the San Diego Cardiac Center. He has published extensively in the areas of cardiac pathophysiology, pharmacology, circulatory support devices, and transplant. He is board certified in the subspecialty of Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac transplant and webmaster of Heart Failure Online.

Contents

Chapter 1: Heart Failure Diagnosis and Epidemiology
Chapter 2: Heart Failure Presentations and Functional Types
Chapter 3: Stage A: Patients at Risk for Developing Structural Heart Disease
Chapter 4: Structural Heart Disease and Progression to Failure: Stages B, C, and D
Chapter 5: Stage B: Asymptomatic Structural Heart Disease
Chapter 6: Assessment of Stage C Patients with HF-rEF
Chapter 7: Assessment of Stage C Patients with HF-pEF
Chapter 8: Stage C: Improving Outcomes in Symptomatic Heart Failure
Chapter 9: Stage C: Therapies for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
Chapter 10: Stage C: Cardiorenal Syndrome
Chapter 11: Stage D Heart Failure: Options and Opportunities
Chapter 12: A Patient-Oriented Perspective to the 4 Stages of Heart Failure