The idea for this book came to the author when he was working in the Accident and Emergency Department of Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham as a senior house officer. Although the theoretical level of his medical knowledge was satisfactory and comparable with that of his colleagues, he lagged behind in dealing with cases. This was a consequence of the fact that he was unable within a short time to selectively apply the knowledge that would have allowed him to distinguish the important from the less important, to function in an abstract way and to apply a simple algorithm to solve the diagnostic problem.
This book represents an attempt to decrypt and simplify the way of handling emergency cardiology cases and is directed mainly at the young doctor. At the end of each chapter there is an algorithm that focuses on the basic diagnostic points and the main therapeutic actions for handling the illness. The composition of the text is based for the most part on the existing guidelines of scientific associations. However, in many cases only the most essential information that assists in the management of an emergency case has been used. For this reason, the algorithms offer only a rough guide to patient management and may need modifications according to the peculiarities of the case and the doctor's judgment.
The text that precedes the algorithm provides the necessary theoretical substrate to allow the reader to assimilate the algorithmic evaluation of the emergency illness. In order to facilitate the young doctor's therapeutic management of the case, the way of preparing and administering intravenous solutions is described, while representative brand names of the main cardiological drugs are included.