Frontline Cardiology: An "Off the Fence" Guide for Those Who Need to Know What to do Next

This title is edited by a British author from chapters written by cardiologists working in the UK. This handbook - which has been formally adopted by the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust - is a homunculus of cardiology knowledge, based on the experience of the authors with the sole aim of helping the reader make a decision when faced with the daily challenges of cardiology. Living in an age where access to the latest trial data is immediate, for many people lack of knowledge is not the problem, instead it is inadequate experience that holds them back from making a decision based on that knowledge. The Editor calls this ‘evidence based paralysis'- sometimes you don't want to know what a group of experts decided in the latest trial but simply want to know what to do next. Obviously there is no substitute for experience but to help you along the way this book will help you ‘get off the fence' and indicate what the authors have done in similar situations.

• Written by a doctor involved in every day real life cardiology, designed for all junior doctors, primary care physicians and nursing staff involved with cardiological problems
• Sorts the ‘wheat from the chaff' and says it how it really is
• Designed to cure people who suffer from ‘evidence based paralysis'!
• Content approved and adopted by two NHS Trusts
• Material based on national and international guidelines
• Deals not only with the prevailing evidence regarding ‘best practice', but highlights common misconceptions and well known ‘short-cuts' to try to resist!
• Covers ACS and first line treatment for MI in the emergency room
• Includes diagnostic angiography and angioplasty
• Addresses the primary and secondary management of MI
• Includes practical discussion of lipid disorders, hypertension and risk stratification
• Addresses heart failure, chronic valve disease and cardiomyopathies
• Discusses the use of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, heart transplant and VAD
• Includes common drug interactions
• Addresses the management of adults with congenital heart disease

Dr Nick Fisher is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke having trained at Derriford Cardiothoracic Centre Plymouth, the University of Virginia Heart Centre and the Royal Brompton Hospital. He is also a Surgeon Commander in the Royal Navy, has served in the Falklands, Adriatic and Gulf and is currently the cardiologist for Her Majesties Armed Forces. During his time as the Senior Registrar at the Brompton he had become well known for his ability to distil complex guidelines into succinct common sense advice and was continuously asked to put his words of wisdom onto paper but never found the time to do so. Fate intervened and he was deployed as a doctor on a hospital ship in the Gulf war in 2003. He then found himself with long periods of time with little to do but write and the result is this book.