Book review

Article Outline

• Copyright

This text book of 187 pages is a ‘one-stop shop’ of experientially gained knowledge and information addressing the needs of pathologists dealing with the heart which has been subjected to previous surgeries. Houser is a cardiac surgeon by training and has written this textbook to facilitate an understanding of the latest knowledge in determining a cause of death and what role (if any) the heart had to play in the death of the individual. The heart may be subjected to numerous invasive procedures during a patient's lifetime across a number of decades. One of the many questions to consider is which procedure and what timeline of surgery and intervention come into play where numerous operations are involved.

The book produced in a convenient A5 format and is divided into 7 separate chapters of which Chapter 5 contains twenty separate case studies associated with different procedures and underlying pathologies. Each chapter contains a ‘references Section’ allowing the reader to access further literature and although 2006 is the latest citation (the ubiquitous lag-effect of text-book production); it offers sufficient citations for the reader to seek out further research on any for the topics discussed.

The 7 chapters cover topics such as

Whilst this text is clearly designed for medically qualified staff, it is written in a suitable narrative style which allows for the wider scientific and indeed ‘Policing’ audience to access and learn specific elements or facts from it.

The book is appropriately augmented with over 100 colour images and has a limited yet functional Glossary.

If there has to be any criticism of this text book it would have to be a minor one. The case studies would have benefited from photographs to aid in the explanations, however, the logical layout of each case into a ‘history’, ‘hospital course’, ‘autopsy findings’ and ‘comments section’ followed by a ‘conclusion’ is appropriate to get a real sense of the individual idiosyncrasies associated with each of these case studies described.

This text book clearly fulfils its remit (and beyond) which is to inform the cardiovascular (and indeed general) pathologist when attempting to define the nuances of the operated heart and to face the challenge of evaluating a heart that has previously undergone surgical treatment. In the event of limited or no medical history on a patient, it will allow the reader to appreciate the most appropriate way forward in determining exactly what operation was conducted. Where more than one procedure has been performed, which one came first and if all or any of them contributed to the cause of death of the individual in question. As Houser states in his ‘Preface’ “the goal of this monograph is to assist the pathologist in addressing [various] questions whether he or she is in training or a professional in academic or private practice.”