This is a medical textbook chapter on cardiology, part of an illustrated colour text series. It covers clinical examination of the cardiovascular system, functional anatomy and physiology, investigation methods, and a wide range of cardiovascular diseases including heart failure, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, and congenital heart disease.
This document is a chapter from a cardiology textbook, intended for medical students, doctors, and healthcare professionals. It provides a comprehensive overview of cardiovascular disease, which is the most frequent cause of adult death in the Western world.
The chapter begins with clinical examination of the cardiovascular system, covering observation of hands, face, and precordium, palpation of pulses and apex beat, and auscultation of heart sounds and murmurs. It includes detailed techniques for distinguishing venous from arterial pulsation and examining the jugular venous pulse.
Functional anatomy and physiology are described, including the structure of the heart chambers, coronary circulation, conduction system, and nerve supply. Normal pressures in each chamber are given, and the direction of blood flow through the heart is explained.
Investigation of cardiovascular disease is covered, including electrocardiogram, cardiac biomarkers, chest X-ray, echocardiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac catheterisation, electrophysiology, and radionuclide imaging.
Presenting problems in cardiovascular disease are listed, such as chest pain on exertion, severe prolonged chest pain, breathlessness, syncope, palpitation, cardiac arrest, and abnormal heart sounds. The chapter then covers heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, diseases of the aorta, hypertension, diseases of the heart valves, infective endocarditis, congenital heart disease, diseases of the myocardium, and diseases of the pericardium.