Reviews the best therapies and surgical techniques available to provide quality care for the elderly cardiac patient and of those areas that require further research. The authors detail preventive therapies and the cardiovascular syndromes that disproportionately afflict the older individual, including arrhythmias (particularly atrial fibrillation), syncope, heart failure (particularly diastolic heart failure), and ischemic heart disease. They also delineate the surgical management of the heart patient with discussions of postoperative management and its complications and of specific surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting, valve surgery, pacemaker and defibibrillators, and surgical management of heart failure.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

I Epidemiology, Demographics, and Health Care Policy.- 1 Demography and Epidemiology: An Examination of Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly.- 2 The Evolution of the American Health Care System.- II Fundamentals of Caring for the Elderly.- 3 Nutritional Needs of the Elderly.- 4 Pharmacological Management of the Older Patient.- 5 Psychiatric Issues in the Care of the Elderly Cardiothoracic Surgery Patient.- 6 Neurological Aspects of Caring for the Aged.- 7 Cardiac Rehabilitation in the Older Patient.- 8 Ethical Issues in the Elderly.- III Cardiovascular Care for the Elderly.- 9 Cardiovascular Changes with Aging.- 10 Risk Factors and the Prevention of Heart Disease.- 11 Arrhythmias in the Elderly: With an Emphasis on Atrial Fibrillation.- 12 Syncope in the Elderly.- 13 Ischemic Heart Disease.- 14 Heart Failure: With an Emphasis on Diastolic Heart Failure.- IV Cardiac Surgical Care for the Elderly.- 15 Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Disease in the Elderly.- 16 Surgical Treatment of Heart Failure in the Elderly.- 17 Cardiac Pacing and Defibrillators.- 18 Postoperative Management of the Geriatric Patient.- 19 Incidence and Management of Complications of Surgical Treatment in the Elderly.- 20 Valvular Heart Disease in the Elderly Population.