The Human Cardiovascular System [antikvár]

Prologomenon The prologue to any textbook demands of the authors the reasons why it merits publication. In this endeavor, we were reminiscing, in congenial circumstances, about our combined total of over fifty years of research on the cardiovascular system, and over ten in collaborative studies. These ranged from the analysis of the behavior of the circulation in human limbs, the hemodynamic events in the human heart studied by heart catheterization, the role of the veins in circulatory control, the regulation of arterial blood pressure by the cardiovascular reflexes, and the responses of isolated blood vessels to local, humoral, and nervous stimuli. All of this reminded us of the complexity of the cardiovascular system and the difficulties faced by scholars of any age, confronted with the outpouring of years of information in original and review articles, symposia and textbooks, from which they must identify key facts. We decided to challenge ourselves to write a clear and concise description of the current knowledge of cardiovascular function which would relate the physiology and pharmacology of the circulatory system to its common diseases and which would endeavor to separate facts from concepts, and hopefully, from personal bias. The text is designed for use by medical students, graduate students, residents, and other medical professionals desiring a modern review of the circulation. Based on our own experience in research and teaching, we have tried to summarize the most important aspects of cardiovascular function and have stressed the continuous interaction between the components of the system. We have tried to make each statement understandable to both of us, on the supposition that if this were achieved, anyone who reads the text would comprehend it. The text is extensively illustrated with original diagrams that serve to summarize important components and events within the system. Particular attention has been paid to the index and to cross-references in the text so that the reader can rapidly gain access to the pertinent facts. All discussion of methodology has been placed in the final chapters so that the reader's thought processes are not as easily interrupted by complex mathematical derivations as are those of the authors. Selected references are cited at the end of each chapter; the majority are reviews by outstanding investigators of specific aspects of the circulation in health and disease and provide the advanced student with a key to further reading. As for the reasons why this book merits publication, others must make Vll