Techniques in Cardiac Surgery

The purpose of the first edition (1975) of this atlas, according to its author, was "to present a resume of how we do cardiac surgery in our hospital at this time, fully aware that some of the techniques may be destined for obsolescence in the near future." Since then, "the majority of techniques were modified and many were discarded." The current edition is an "attempt to provide a stateof-the-art report for cardiac surgery in this decade." It "is not intended as a comprehensive review," but it is indeed a remarkable atlas. The book first presents some basic topics, such as decisions, incisions, sutures, and proper retraction. The 25 chapters include patent ductus arteriosus, coarctation, palliation of congenital heart disease, pericardiectomy, pulmonary stenosis, atrial and ventricular septal defects, atrioventricular communis, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition and anomalous pulmonary venous return, valves (aortic, mitral, and tricuspid), revascularization of ischemic myocardium and coronary artery