Arterial and venous diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality in most of the world, especially in the western hemisphere. Not only of interest to angiologists, these illnesses are also of concern to most physicians in various fields ranging from cardiology, general medicine and cardiovascular surgery to physiology, pathology and clinical pharmacology. Specialists in diabetes, hypertension and epidemiology find these illnesses as challenging in their own fields of interest due to the gross interrelation of these diseases with their specialities. This book of 35 chapters contains an up-to-date discussion of various arterial and venous illnesses presenting major clinical applications ranging from basic pathology, haemodynamics and haemorheology to clinical features and management. Special attention has also been paid to epidemiology and prevention, discussing all the issues concerned. A special section on vascular emergency has also been included, thereby extending its usefulness to physicians and surgeons working in accident and emergency units.

Occult atherosclerotic diseases impose great challenges in the cardiovascular practice. Although their pathology is not much different from that of the overt group of diseases, the clinical approach to their diagnoses remains a puzzle. This has mainly emerged as a result of the problems faced in trying to pick up the vulnerable subjects from among the general public. More definitive candidates to be evaluated are those belonging to one of the high risk groups. There are no statistical figures available on the incidence of occult atherosclerotic disease in the "non risky" general public and this is definitely an area that needs further investigation. Atherosclerotic disease whether they are in the cerebral, coronary, renal or lower limb arteries are theoretically interrelated because the basic patho logical changes are usually similar. However there still remain some differ ences which are mainly due to variation in the flow pattern in the arteries. Thus it will be important clinically and from the management point of view to investigate for the presence of occult disease in other arteries if an atherosclerotic disease in a certain artery has been discovered. This approach is of a great significance especially from the preventive point of view in order to avoid catastrophic events which may have resulted from pathology in the other region."

Cardiac output has always been a subject of interest to both clinicians and researchers in different branches of medicine and surgery. In the last decade more attention has also been paid to its application in pediatrics, neonatology, fetal medicine and pregnancy. Better understanding of the peripheral circulation has provided more insight into the patholophysiology of different diseases. Many cardiac and non-cardiac disorders affect cardiac outputs. Monitoring of the changes in cardiac output is also important in the acutely ill patient. There are several methods to measure cardiac output, each with advantages and pitfalls. This book deals with all relevant aspects of cardiac output in eight parts: part one describes the methods of measuring cardiac output and a comparison between the catheterisation based and the noninvasive techniques, while part two describes the changes in cardiac output due to physiological causes. Part three describes cardiac output in cardiac diseases and systemic hypertension. Cardiac output in acutely ill patients is discussed in part four. Effect of cardiac medications, temporary atrial pacing, permanent pacing, pharmacologic stress testing and anesthesia are covered in detail in part six, while changes in cardiac output in noncardiac diseases are described in part seven. Finally great attention has been paid in part eight to the regional circulation including cerebral, coronary, skeletal and splanchnic circulations. A separate chapter discusses in detail the dynamics of blood flow. This book will be useful both to the cardiologists as well as to physicians in other fields of surgery and medicine and to their trainees. Readers will find this book an interesting and a useful reference on the topic of cardiac output.