★★★★★ 5
Excellent Introduction to Hemodynamics for a Resident or Fellow
Format: Paperback
Background: PGY-2 Internal Medicine Resident with no prior hemodynamic monitoring experience
Overall:
Fantastic introduction to the field.
The author will assume you know the following prior to starting the book:
- Moderate understanding of EKG’s
- Anatomical arrangement of the heart and its vessels
- Understanding some of the practical effects of atrial fibrillation (lack of an atrial contraction, etc)
Specifics:
The book can be picked up without significant prior knowledge of hemodynamic monitoring. I initially tried to read Hemodynamic Rounds, and the authors of that book did not introduce significant pieces of information, such as the normal pressures of the heart chambers, what each wave means on the monitor, and how is each chamber of the heart/vessel represented on the monitor (where do I look to see the left ventricular pressure?).
In contrast to that, Dr. Hanna provides a book that appears to be intended for residents/cardiology fellows or zealous pre-cardiology interns who are looking for an introduction to the field that maintains enough depth to be practical. Its first section goes over the relevant physiology and pathophysiology and the mechanical/hemodynamic representation. The second section is a series of practice problems with excellent explanations which reviews all of the prior concepts and helps to solidify them in the reader’s mind. The reader will learn to appreciate the relevant waveforms and their relevant representations, the normal values for the cardiac chambers and vessels, and eventually the changes to these normal values during pathologic states. As others have mentioned, it is concise, but this also makes it a bit dense initially when the reader encounters the basic four waveforms and attempts to memorize the normal pressures. Once you get over that initial learning curve, the rest of the first section goes a bit faster.
Overall, I’m very happy I purchased this book, and I feel that it has prepared me very well for time spent in the cardiac ICU.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2019
