Dr. Peter Gazes with his book, subtitled “A Cost-Effective Approach.”

The fourth edition of “Clinical Cardiology” by Peter C. Gazes, M.D., has just been published by Chapman & Hall. It is one of a very small number of texts in the field written by a single author.

Gazes is clinical distinguished university professor of cardiology at MUSC.

The text presents in a simple, concise manner the new knowledge and vast technology in cardiology for use in the everyday practice of medicine. It is aimed at primary health care providers and is also useful to cardiologists preparing for board certification.

The new edition is subtitled “A Cost-Effective Approach,” indicating its relevance in this era of managed care. Emphasis is placed on cost-effectiveness without loss of quality of care.

The first edition of the text published in 1975 contained 363 pages, and the current edition is nearly twice the size. Gazes said that the growth in size of each succeeding edition of the text reflects the growth and advances in certain areas of cardiology. The fourth edition has been extensively updated and rewritten, and new sections have been added. Gazes expects that this edition will be translated into a variety of foreign languages for use abroad as have the earlier editions of the text.

In his foreword to the text, Drs. Michael E. Assey and Blase A. Carabello wrote, “consistence and clarity of thought is a major asset of the book. Through his textbook one can benefit from the experience and wisdom of a master clinician who is an expert in the use of a stethoscope as he is in fashioning a complex risk factor intervention program or choosing the correct timing for coronary intervention.”