The Cardiovascular System

Abstract

As I began work on this chapter, I reflected on Osler’s aphorism presented above and concurred that, yes, many of our leading causes of morbidity and mortality involve some disorder of the arteries—heart attacks, strokes, vascular dementia, arterial occlusions of the extremities, and even the arterial “tension” in hypertension. In this chapter I will cover diseases of the heart, arteries, and veins, while some of specific manifestations of arterial (and venous) diseases—such as occlusion of the central retinal artery, mesenteric ischemia, and testicular torsion—are covered elsewhere in the book.