Mechanisms and differential diagnosis constitute the underlying theme of this monograph comprising 17 articles by 34 contributors. Individually and together, these articles serve as an outstanding testimony to the editorial abilities of the late Charles Friedberg and are reprinted in hard cover from earlier editions of the journal "Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases".
Student, house officer, and clinician will find the concise reviews on chest pain, dyspnea, syncope, and cyanosis informative, easy to read, and exceedingly well referenced. Differential diagnosis of areas such as acyanotic and cyanotic heart disease, cardiomyopathies, pericarditis, and hypertension are thorough and well organized. There is generous use of tables and illustrations; the latter are of good quality and excellently reproduced.
The understanding of the pathophysiology of disease, together with the proper programming of the clinician's "mental computer" for differential diagnosis, is the cornerstone of optimal patient care. The concise contributions of these well-chosen experts satisfy these