This text is a confused, disjointed series of independent, repetitive essays, some of which were originally published many years ago. The reader is not aware of this fact until he is suddenly astounded to learn that death from acute rheumatic fever typically occurs about two weeks after the injury that initiated it! He may then note the most recent chapter reference is more than 32 years old, and may assume the discussion is intended to have historical interest rather than reflect current concepts of pathogenesis.
There are some excellent individual chapters that reflect current thought; however, their subject matter is sometimes unrelated to the title of the text. This includes a chapter concerning death from exposure to cold, and another, "Nephropathy Associated With Heat Stress and Exercise." Their relationship to "Exercise and Cardiac Death" is not clear. The same may be said for the chapter, "Sudden Cardiac Death of Pilots