Accompanying CD-ROM includes all the appendices.

This timely book is a road map for defining the care of acute heart failure patients in the short stay or observation unit setting. Produced in collaboration with the Society of Chest Pain Centers, this book provides an understanding of the diverse medical needs and solutions, administrative processes, and regulatory issues necessary for successful management. In an environment of increasing financial consciousness, medical practice is changing drastically. Short stay care is premier among the new specialties that cater to the complex balance of optimizing patient outcomes while minimizing fiscal burdens. The observation unit has proven to be an excellent arena for the care of acute heart failure, replete with opportunities to improve both medical management and quality metrics. Unique to the field, Short Stay Management of Acute Heart Failure, Second Edition is the only book of its kind, providing the medical, regulatory, and economic tools necessary to create and implement successful short stay management protocols and units for the care of the heart failure patient. It is an essential guide for health care professionals and for hospitals and institutions wishing to be recognized as quality heart failure centers as accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers.

For many years, there has been a great deal of work done on chronic congestive heart failure while acute heart failure has been considered a difficult to handle and hopeless syndrome. However, in recent years acute heart failure has become a growing area of study and this is the first book to cover extensively the diagnosis and management of this complex condition. The book reflects the considerable amounts of new data reported and many new concepts which have been proposed in the last 3-4 years looking at the epidemiology, diagnostic and treatment of acute heart failure.

This book provides a road map for the efficient and successful management of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the short stay unit. It describes the problem, defines the measures of successful treatment, elucidates interventions, and supplies the tools for achieving quality care. Organized in four parts, it covers the impact of AF on patient populations; the presentation and management of AF; the transition to the outpatient environment; and systems management. Topics include the economic consequences of AF; cardioversion and cardiac implantable electronic devices in AF management; education of the AF patient and discharge planning; and quality metrics in AF. The book also provides order sheets and process criteria with which institutions can successfully manage the AF patient in the short stay unit, thus optimizing patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, and operational efficiencies. Short Stay Management of Atrial Fibrillation is a valuable resource for cardiologists, emergency medicine physicians, electrophysiologists, and other healthcare professionals involved in AF management.

Although the majority of heart failure represents the exacerbation of chronic disease, about 20% will present as a first time diagnosis. And although there are a number of intravenous agents that can be used for acute decompensated heart failure, there are no national guidelines currently available. Edited by a well-known expert and his team of con

This book systematically focuses on central sleep apneas, analyzing their relationship especially with heart failure and discussing recent research results and emerging treatment strategies based on feedback modulation. The opening chapters present historical background information on Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR), clarify terminology, and explain the mechanics and chemistry of respiration. Following a description of the physiology of respiration, the pathophysiology underlying central apneas in different disorders and particularly in heart failure is discussed. The similarities and differences of obstructive and central apneas are then considered. The book looks beyond the concept of sleep apnea to daytime CSR and periodic breathing during effort and contrasts the opposing views of CSR as a compensatory phenomenon or as detrimental to the failing heart. The diagnostic tools currently in use for the detection of CSR are thoroughly reviewed, with guidance on interpretation of findings. The book concludes by describing the various forms of treatment that are available for CSR and by explaining how to select patients for treatment.

This timely book is a road map for defining the care of acute heart failure patients in the short stay or observation unit setting. Produced in collaboration with the Society of Chest Pain Centers, this book provides an understanding of the diverse medical needs and solutions, administrative processes, and regulatory issues necessary for successful management. In an environment of increasing financial consciousness, medical practice is changing drastically. Short stay care is premier among the new specialties that cater to the complex balance of optimizing patient outcomes while minimizing fiscal burdens. The observation unit has proven to be an excellent arena for the care of acute heart failure, replete with opportunities to improve both medical management and quality metrics. Unique to the field, Short Stay Management of Acute Heart Failure, Second Edition is the only book of its kind, providing the medical, regulatory, and economic tools necessary to create and implement successful short stay management protocols and units for the care of the heart failure patient. It is an essential guide for health care professionals and for hospitals and institutions wishing to be recognized as quality heart failure centers as accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers.