Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation

Abstract

Since the first successful electrical defibrillation of a human heart 27 years ago, different disciplines have dominated the field of cardiac resuscitation: first physiology, then surgery and anesthesiology, and now cardiology. All these disciplines and more are well represented in this edition. Once again, the bibliography is almost all new and the basic science sections adequately cover the mechanisms of cardiac arrest, the pharmacology of resuscitation, and elective cardioplegia. Because 250,000 deaths from acute myocardial infarction occur before patients reach the hospital, the chapters on mobile coronary care units and the logistics of resuscitation outside the hospital have been expanded. Also, a new chapter on "The Spectator Heart," as, eg, at football games, has been added. For the neophyte "reanimatologist," the cookbook-type appendix on resuscitation technique is succinct, timely, and useful. For those with more indepth interests, the section on pitfalls, precautions, and complications is particularly helpful. In 1974, only