Heart Sounds and Murmurs [antikvár]

Preface This book consists of four principal sections and an introductory chapter on technic. The first section is concerned with the history and physics of sound as it relates to auscultation and phonocardiography and also with descriptions of various recording devices commonly used in the study of heart sounds and murmurs. This section, chapters 2 to 6, was written by the late Mr. M. B. Rappaport, E.E., of the Sanborn Company, Waltham, Massachusetts. A considerable amount of this material is based on earlier papers by Mr. M. B. Rappaport and Dr. H. B. Sprague. The second section, chapters 7 to 17, deals with auscultation and phonocardiography in acquired heart disease. Dr. H. B. Sprague collaborated with me in the writing of this section. The material for it was gathered during the four years 1951 to 1954 when I had the privilege of working in the cardiac department of the Massachusetts General Hospital and also at the House of the Good Samaritan, Boston. The third section, chapters 17 to 29, is concerned with auscultation and phonocardiography in congenital heart disease; Dr. A. S. Nadas collaborated with me in the writing of this section. The material was gathered during the three years 1954 to 1957 when I had the privilege of working in the Sharon Cardiovascular Unit at the Children's Hospital, Boston. The fourth section, chapters 30 to 33, contains miscellaneous information concerned principally with arrhythmias, and the data were obtained over the past 8 years. Numerous persons have assisted in many ways during the preparation of this book, but some deserve particular mention: first and foremost one of my co-authors the late Mr. M. B. Rappaport, who first taught me how to take and read phonocardiograms and who patiently answered scores of questions on the physics of sound as related to auscultation and phonocardiography; next, the members of the cardiac department of the Massachusetts General Hospital, particularly Drs. P. D. White, H. B. Sprague and E. F. Bland, who provided me with a laboratory to work in and gave me access to their patients and their records. Dr. A. S. Nadas at Children's Hospital, Boston, and Dr. B. F. Massell at the House of the Good Samaritan, Boston, gave me complete access to their patients and their records, and Dr. A. M. Rudolph, also at Children's Hospital, was most helpful in enabling me to obtain simultaneous pressure tracings and sound recordings when this seemed to be indicated. To Judith A. Ashby, who spent countless hours translating articles from various foreign languages which I could not read, and to Mrs. Marcia Lawson, who edited this manuscript, I owe my greatest thanks, for without their help this book would never have been completed. I take full responsibility for the phonocardiography tracings, their technical quality, the accuracy or otherwise of their labelling and interpretation, and for any errors and omissions in the text. Patrick A. Ongley