CRC OP CARDIAC SURG PDF

Preface

Twenty-one years have passed since the publication of the 4th Edition of Operative Cardiac Surgery. That volume in Rob & Smith's respected and durable multi-volume textbook series of Operative Surgery was the first edition to separate cardiac surgery procedures from those operations encompassed in the broader field of Thoracic Surgery. The 4th Edition, Cardiac Surgery, contained 60 separate chapters dealing with the full spectrum of adult and pediatric cardiac surgery techniques and procedures that encompassed this specialty in the early 1980s. While the 60 chapters of this 5th Edition of Cardiac Surgery also comprise an entire volume, the range of topics in this current Edition accurately reflect the impressive progress of cardiac surgery in all directions over the past two decades.

The Section on Operative Management now includes a chapter on the use of echocardiography in heart surgery, a diagnostic tool that has become so important in our management before, during and after surgery. The Section on Surgery for Ischemic Heart Disease includes 2 chapters on revascularization techniques and procedures performed on the beating heart and without the patient being placed on the heart-lung machine. The exciting array of options for heart valve surgery, including routine techniques for valve repairs and valve-sparing procedures, as well as the use of limited access approaches, are described in the Section on Surgery for Valvular Heart Disease. The numerous advances and exciting developments in Surgery for Heart Failure, including not only heart transplantation, but expanded options for mechanical assistance and reconstructive surgery in the failing heart are presented in the chapters describing operative procedures for heart failure. A five-chapter Section is devoted to the important recent developments in Thoracic Aortic Surgery, where so much progress and innovation have occurred over the last decade.

In the twenty-three chapters covering Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease, impressive enhancement of surgical capabilities in this challenging subspecialty of cardiac surgery are well demonstrated. In general, surgery for congenital heart disease has had the most impressive advances in innovative operative procedures for very young infants. While the full range of operations for patients with congenital heart abnormalities are presented in these chapters, what is perhaps most impressive are those chapters describing surgical procedures that are now routinely performed in newborn and infant children during the first few days or weeks of life.

As much as these chapters reflect the advances in cardiac surgery over the past two decades, we believe that what especially distinguishes this 5th Edition are the outstanding illustrations that accompany every chapter and all of the descriptions of operative procedures. The authors and contributors include many experienced and credible cardiac surgeons from around the world. The descriptions of the operative techniques and other aspects of current approaches to heart surgery for the full spectrum of cardiac conditions are well prepared. What is most unique in this volume, however, is the brilliant art work that illustrates with such clarity and simplicity the anatomical and technical features of the operative procedures.

We are honored to have had the opportunity to edit this 5th Edition in such a respected series of operative texts. We thank all of the editors and contributors, and we especially acknowledge the daunting contributions of Gillian Lee who provided superb leadership in the creation of the illustrations.