Heart failure is a serious condition caused by the heart failing to pump enough blood around the body at the right pressure. It usually occurs because the heart muscle has become too weak or stiff to work properly, most commonly caused by heart attack, high blood pressure or cardiomyopathy (heart disease).

This book is a comprehensive guide to heart failure for clinicians. Divided into six sections, the book begins with emergency management, then discusses heart failure in both in-patient and out-patient hospital care. A complete chapter is dedicated to the role of biomarkers at different stages of heart failure.

Special issues such as diabetes management and heart failure, geographical variations, and chronic heart failure in geriatric patients, are discussed in depth. The final sections examine advanced heart failure and the diagnosis and management of cardiomyopathies.

Written by experienced authors from the University of California and the University of Athens, this manual includes more than 175 images and illustrations to enhance learning.

Key points

• Comprehensive guide to heart failure
• Covers role of biomarkers at different stages of heart failure
• Complete section dedicated to diagnosis and management of cardiomyopathies
• Experienced author team from USA and Greece