Review of Textbook on Peripheral Vascular Disease

Title: Peripheral Vascular Disease (ISBN-13: 9780763755386, Paperback, 204 pages, © 2011) Authors: Alvar Alonso, MD, David D. McManus, MD, Daniel Z. Fisher, MD Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning (Sudbury, Massachusetts, www.jblearning.com)
Dr. Alonso is a cardiology fellow at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. Dr. McManus is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, UMass Memorial Medical Center and, Dr. Fisher is the director of Interventional Cardiology and the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program at the same institution. The textbook is edited by Dr. Dennis A. Tighe, Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts. All of these authors are well published in cardiovascular diseases. The book is paperback and approximately 200 pages, and features ample use of figures, diagrams, tables and drawings. Color images are included at the end of the text. The book is well referenced and there is a thorough index. There are six chapters included in the book, primarily organized by body region. The first chapter is titled “Vascular Biology of Atherosclerosis.” This chapter lays the basic foundation for the remaining five chapters. The second chapter, “Peripheral Arterial Disease of the Lower Extremities” is very comprehensive. It covers anatomic considerations, the pathophysiology of a variety of disease states including non-atherosclerotic diseases. The diagnostic evaluation of these patients, including imaging modalities, is reviewed with a nice set of complementary images which highlight these tests. Therapeutic options — from medical, endovascular, to surgical — are all reviewed. Furthermore, there is an excellent review of landmark trials and a summary of outcomes. The book then goes on to discuss renal artery disease, splanchnic and mesenteric artery disease, subclavian artery disease and carotid artery disease. For the most part, each chapter follows a similar pattern as the lower extremity chapter in its outline and content. The book is well written and highlights important arterial diseases. It does not attempt to be a comprehensive reference on arterial diseases, but concentrates on arterial diseases in important body regions. It is easily readable and would make a welcome addition to one’s library on arterial diseases.

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Robert S. Dieter, MD, RVT, Loyola University, Interventional Cardiology, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine, Maywood, Illinois. E-mail: Rdieter@LUMC.edu

Aravinda Nanjundappa, MD, RVT, West Virginia University, Medicine and Surgery, Charleston, West Virginia. E-mail: dappamd@yahoo.com