Evaluation and Treatment of Upper and Lower Extremity Circulatory Disorders [antikvár]

Fo re word This book is the product of an annual event, the symposium on vascular surgery at Northwestern University, organized and directed by the editors, Drs. John Bergan and James Yao. They ask the participants to submit manuscripts in advance of the symposium and, with remarkable efficiency, work with the publisher to make the book available at the symposium. Few books have such short gestation times. The result is an up-to-date volume that provides the reader with the most recent thoughts and techniques of the authors. The contributors are experts. They take care of patients, in addition to teaching and investigating, so that their chapters have a practical orientation. The splendid piece by Harris B. Shumacker, whose brilliant surgical career is taking an equally impressive literary turn, is a special treat. The body of knowledge that comprises vascular surgery is increasing in breadth as well as depth, a trend reflected in the subject matter covered in this book. Evaluation and treatment of circulatory disorders of the extremities now requires an understanding of nutrition and piatelet function, as well as the roles of a variety of angiographic and noninvasive techniques in the assessment of patients. The newer nonsurgical treatments, including balloon dilatation and thrombolytic therapy, are under intense scrutiny by surgeons; their potential usefulness is obvious, and the specific indications and contraindications are less hazy, but not yet crystal clear. Our understanding of those less common circulatory disorders that are not caused by atherosclerosis is much more complete, and although our knowledge of these diseases is replete with uncertainty, we do know how to help these unfortunate patients, who often are young and anxious to be productive. The people who wrote this book, and Drs. Bergan and Yao, who brought them together, have served us well. We now have a treatise on circulatory disorders of the extremities, written by experts in the field, which is both comprehensive and up-to-date.