A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease Chien KR, ed. 637 pages. Students, internal medicine residents, cardiology fellows, research scientists, and clinical cardiologists. The textbook comprises seven sections plus a glossary.
Initial chapters explain principles of molecular cardiology and morphogenesis.
A mini-course in molecular biology, genetics, modified animal research models, and gene transfer approaches is included. Cloning, gene regulation, mitochondrial inheritance, chromosome analysis, gene targeting, and knockout experiments are clearly explicated and are useful for understanding general cellular and molecular biology. These precepts are applied to descriptions of congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, stroke, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, restenosis, angiogenesis, lipid disorders, diabetes mellitus, coagulopathies, and thrombolysis. Two sections cover atherosclerosis and risk factors for coronary artery disease. The information is current, and treatment sections are timely.