The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a screening tool called the Listing of Impairments to identify claimants who are so severely impaired that they cannot work at all and thus immediately qualify for benefits. In this report, the IOM makes several recommendations for improving SSA's capacity to determine disability benefits more quickly and efficiently using the Listings.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a screening tool called the Listing of Impairments to identify claimants who are so severely impaired that they cannot work at all and thus immediately qualify for benefits. In this report, the IOM makes several recommendations for improving SSA's capacity to determine disability benefits more quickly and efficiently using the Listings.

The ECG is a fundamental diagnostic tool in cardiology, allowingaccurate diagnosis and monitoring of acute and chronic ischemicheart disease. In this most comprehensive book of its kind,internationally renowned authors correlate electrocardiographicrecordings with anatomical patterns of myocardial ischemia toimprove the diagnosis and management of patients with ischemicheart disease. The book is structured in two sections. Part One coverselectrocardiographic patterns of ischemia, injury andinfarction. • Each chapter discusses a different ECG abnormality inturn, clearly explaining the ischemic insults andelectrophysiological mechanisms underlying each pattern to promoterapid and accurate interpretation of the ECG in the clinicalsetting. • ECG abnormalities are correlated with myocardial anatomyand coronary angiography to produce a series of practicaldiagnostic algorithms that allow the clinician to identify not onlythe occluded artery but the precise location of the occlusionwithin the artery, facilitating appropriate therapeuticdecisions. • The authors also propose a new classification of Q-wavemyocardial infarctions based on imaging correlations with advancedtechniques such as contrast-enhanced cardiac magneticresonance. Part Two of the book covers the ECG in clinical practice. Eachchapter focuses on a different clinical syndrome, describing therole of the ECG in a global approach to the diagnosis, prognosisand risk stratification of patients with acute and chronic ischemicheart disease and guiding clinical decision-making. Extensively referenced and illustrated throughout, this book ishighly recommended for any clinician involved in the diagnosis andmanagement of ischemic heart disease.

Research centering on blood flow in the heart continues to hold an important position, especially since a better understanding of the subject may help reduce the incidence of coronary arterial disease and heart attacks. This book summarizes recent advances in the field; it is the product of fruitful cooperation among international scientists who met in Japan in May, 1990 to discuss the regulation of coronary blood flow.

This open access book focuses on diagnostic and interventional imaging of the chest, breast, heart, and vessels. It consists of a remarkable collection of contributions authored by internationally respected experts, featuring the most recent diagnostic developments and technological advances with a highly didactical approach. The chapters are disease-oriented and cover all the relevant imaging modalities, including standard radiography, CT, nuclear medicine with PET, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, as well as imaging-guided interventions. As such, it presents a comprehensive review of current knowledge on imaging of the heart and chest, as well as thoracic interventions and a selection of "hot topics". The book is intended for radiologists, however, it is also of interest to clinicians in oncology, cardiology, and pulmonology.

When a patient develops symptoms suggestive of and infarction, this section is emphasized. There acute coronary insufficiency, the health care sys are brief sections on prediction and prevention of tem is presented with a challenging diagnostic ischemic events, methods of diagnosing and siz and management problem. During the past 20 ing infarcts, and methods of monitoring the pa years, hospitals have been developing coronary tient with myocardial ischemia. A major focus of care units as the specialized inhospital facilities for the text is on "coronary care." As indicated above, such patients. For the past 15 years, many com during the past 20 years five distinct phases of munities have employed paramedical personnel coronary care have evolved: (a) prehospital, (b) to extend the principles of "coronary care" to the postadmission, (c) coronary care unit, (d) predis site of the patient who develops the problem. charge, and (e) convalescent. Cardiac rehabilitation programs have also been The section on pathophysiology begins with a established to facilitate the return to function of chapter by Greenfield and Rembert discussing patients who have had acute coronary insuffi the factors that determine the transmural distri ciency. More recently, aggressive medical and bution of blood flow. Reimer then shows the surgical techniques have been developed to either relationship between coronary blood flow and prevent or limit the extent of myocardial necrosis both reversible and irreversible damage to the that develops due to acute coronary insufficiency. myocardium.

Cardiac Ischemia: From Injury to Protection has been divided into six parts. The first part describes the differences between hypoxia and ischemia, animal models, the effects of ischemia on myocardial function and metabolism, and the electrophysiological consequences of ischemia. The second part deals with the mechanisms of cardiomyocyte death in ischemia, structural aspects of irreversible ischemic injury, necrosis and apoptosis of cardiac cells, the role of calcium, and the concept of calcium antagonism. The third chapter is a brief description of reperfusion injury, its clinical relevance, and possible prevention. The fourth part summarizes changes in myocardial vasculature during ischemia and reperfusion. The fifth part is the survey of two main possibilities for increasing cardiac resistance to ischemia and hypoxia, i.e. long-lasting adaptation to chronic hypoxia and short-lasting preconditioning. The last part of the book deals with comparative and ontogenetic aspects of cardiac sensitivity to oxygen deprivation; this chapter also summarizes the ontogenetic differences and limitations in endogenous and exogenous protection of the ischemic/hypoxic heart.