Prim Care Clin Office Pract 32 (2005) xi–xii
Preface
Cardiovascular Disease
Charles B. Eaton, MD, MS Guest Editor
This edition of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice is dedicated to cardiovascular disease. It is written to appeal to a range of health care professionals, including nurses, dieticians, and clinical pharmacists as well as primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. A broad view is taken, so that the article selection ranges across discussion of prevention, screening, management of risk factors, and the tools necessary to perform these tasks, as well as discussing cardiovascular disease in its various forms. The authors of these articles are experts from multiple fields, including epidemiology, behavioral medicine, community health, cardiology, family medicine, and general internal medicine. All articles focus on information that can be used day-to-day to improve the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease in office practice. Emergency room and in-hospital care are discussed briefly where relevant. The first two articles focus on prevention from the community and office systems-based perspective. Then, tools for evaluation and management of cardiovascular disease, including electrocardiogram interpretation, diagnostic and screening tests for coronary heart disease, and lifestyle counseling, are discussed. The next articles discuss cardiovascular disease risk factors in general, and then the specific risk factors of family history, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and the newly recognized risk factor of erectile dysfunction. Particular emphasis is placed on translating evidence-based recommendations into clinical ambulatory practice. Finally, the major cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, and valvular heart disease,
0095-4543/05/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2005.08.001 primarycare.theclinics.com
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PREFACE
are discussed from the outpatient perspective, with special emphasis on treatment strategies. I hope you enjoy this edition. Charles B. Eaton, MD, MS Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island 111 Brewster Street, 2nd Floor Pawtucket, RI 02860, USA Brown Medical School, Box G Providence, RI 02912, USA E-mail address:
[email protected]