Preface

In 1966 the first edition of Hurst’s The Heart was published after more than five years of planning by Dr. J. Willis Hurt and his colleagues at Emory University. This was the first textbook on cardiovascular disease to be multiauthored and comprehensive with expert discussions on the basic science f cardiovascular diseases and the diagnosis and treatment of specific disorders involving the heart arteries and veins.

Contributing authors were carefully chosen and the various chapters of the textbook were meticulously reviewed by the editors to provide completeness without overlap. This 1966 text was extensively referenced and the index of the book was written by the contributing authors and editors themselves. The five edition of The Heart was designed as a reference source for its readers as well as providing clinically relevant material for use in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in the 1960s.

The tenth edition of The Heart is considerably different from the previous nine editions. It approaches the entire discipline of cardiovascular disease, from basic science through clinical disease states, with all chapters written by most prominent experts in the field. Thus, from the description of the latest advances in molecular cardiology, including the promising cardiovascular applications of the human genome project, the book approaches in depth all the recent major advances in clinical cardiology, including the description of the most up-to-date practice guidelines.

Sixteen new chapters have been added and about 60 percent of the chapters have been radically modified. Specifically new, and we believe unique, aspects of this tenth edition of The Heart are the following.

1. within the basic section of the book there are three new chapters devoted to molecular, cellular, and vessel wall biology:

2. also, in the basic section there are three new chapters devoted to the human genome, molecular development and embryology, and genetic therapy;

3. as a practical new understanding of the anatomy of The Heart, the group at the Mayo Clinic has written an outstanding chapter based on clinical imaging;

4. in the section devoted to diagnostic modalities, there are four new superb chapters on computed tomography of the heart, magnetic resonance imaging of the heart, magnetic resonance imaging of the vascular system, and cardiac positron emission tomography;

5. two timely new clinical chapters; diabetes in cardiovascular disease and cardiac disease in women;

6. a new aspect of this tenth edition is a chapter on practice guidelines in cardiovascular disease, which we expect will be very practical for the daily approach to the patient and as a teaching tool for residents and fellow;

7. finally, there is a new and unique chapter on extended cardiovascular medicine, which, we predict, outlines a strong trend toward the future.