Heart Function in Health and Disease

As the majority of cardiovascular deaths are related to myocardial ischemia, it is necessary to understand the various aspects of ischemic heart disease. In this regard, it is noteworthy that ischemic heart disease is commonly associated with atherosclerosis, coronary spasm, as well as thrombosis leading to the development of arrhythmias, cardiovascular cell damage, myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure. Furthermore, it is also important to appreciate various physiological, electrophysiological and biochemical processes in the normal heart if we are to understand their significance under pathological situations. Heart Function in Health and Disease has been organized in five sections to provide an outline of a complex problem in a convenient manner. One section of this book is devoted to shedding light on the restructuring and ontogenic changes in the developing heart whereas in the next section some hypertrophic alterations due to chronic hypoxia are described. The third and fourth sections of this book are concerned with the regulation of cardiac channels as well as signal transduction mechanisms and cardiac electric field. The fifth section contains some pathophysiological events during the development of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. All of these areas encompass a significant body of new information that will be invaluable to those who work in the field of cardiovascular sciences, as well as those who treat people with heart disease. (Proceedings of the Cardiovascular Program sponsored by the Council of Cardiac Metabolism of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology during the Regional Meeting of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, Prague, Czechoslovakia, June 30 July 5, 1991)