Cardiovascular Disease in Small Animal Medicine PDF

Preface

The extensive use of visual images is a core feature of this book. Over 570 figures and 65 summary tables are used to illustrate various cardiovascular disease conditions and key concepts. The opportunity to write such a richly illustrated book is what drew me to this project. Over twenty years of teaching veterinary students and interacting with veterinary practitioners has convinced me of the importance of visual learning. Most of the images were collected in the course of my practice at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Others are reproduced here with the kind permission of my colleagues and various publishers. I have included multiple graphical examples for a number of important disease conditions in order to reflect some of the variability in clinical appearance that occurs.

My goal was to create a practical clinical reference that would also provide a broad overview of small animal cardiovascular medicine. In writing the text, I have tried to summarize concisely important information about various cardiovascular diseases, the clinical tools used to assess the cardiovascular system, and approaches to disease management. This book was written primarily for veterinary general practitioners and students, although veterinary technicians and others should find it useful as well.

The book is organized into three sections. The initial chapters (1-5) review the normal cardiovascular system and common methods used for cardiac evaluation. Chapters 6-17 contain overviews of common clinical problems, approaches to differentiating these clinical manifestations of disease, and management of heart failure and arrhythmias. Finally, more detailed information about specific cardiovascular diseases is organized anatomically in chapters 18-25. The danger in this organizational structure is the potential for excessive repetition. I have tried to minimize redundancy by crossreferencing among the various chapters. As a consequence, it may be necessary to turn to a different page for the desired information. I hope the reader will forgive such inconvenience in the interest of keeping the book to a more concise length. The chapter reference lists are not exhaustive, but include important and representative resources. Readers who wish for more detailed information, especially related to certain procedures or diseases, are urged to refer directly to individual references.

No one stands alone. What anyone is able to accomplish is intertwin ed with the work, support, and influence of others. I wish to acknowledge my gratitude to the many colleagues, students, clients, and animals who, over the years and in a multitude of ways, have made it possible for me to write this book. To all my mentors and teachers who helped prepare me for my journey into the world of veterinary clinician/educator, and especially to Drs. John Bonagura and Bob Hamlin, I thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge, dedication, and creativity, and for your high expectations. I am grateful to Mr. Michael Manson and Ms. Jill Northcott of Manson Publishing for asking me to write this book, and for their patience throughout the lengthy process. Thanks are due to Mr. Peter Beynon, Ms. Julie Bennett, and the other members of the Manson Publishing team for all their help and suggestions, as well as to Ms. Kathy Hedges and also Ms. Lori Moran for extensive assistance in preparing the clinical graphics. Most importantly, I wish to express my love and deepest gratitude to my family - thank you for your continued love and support (except for all the times you said "just get the book done...").

Finally, to you the reader, it is my hope that you find this book easy to use and truly helpful in your study and practice.