The Third Edition of this classic cardiac physiology text emphasizes the interrelationships of basic processes among cells, cardiac muscle function and the biophysics of contractile and electrical behavior. This edition of the critically acclaimed overview of cardiac function in health and disease has been revised to incorporate significant new concepts, expanded chapters on the ischemic heart and heart failure, and a revised illustration program. This book is a critical resource for cardiac physiology students, teachers, clinicians, and investigators

Table of Contents

Structure of the heart, myocardial cells and biological membranes; energentics of muscle; anaerobic glycolysis; oxidative metabolism and mitochondria; energy utilization (work and heat); contractile proteins and cytoskeleton; mechanism and control of the cardiac contractile process; active state, length-tension relationship, cardiac mechanics; excitation-contraction coupling: calcium and other ion fluxes across the plasma membrane; excitation-contraction coupling: calcium fluxes across the saracoplasmic reticulum; determinants of ejection and filling: end-diastolic fiber length, myocardial contractility (inotropy) and relaxation (lusitropy); signal transduction: receptors, coupling proteins and second messengers; neurohumoral responses and the hemodynamic defence reaction; proliferative signaling: regulation of gene expression, protein synthesis, cell growth and proliferation, apoptosis; regulation of myocardial contractility (inotopy) and relaxation (lusitropy); the heart as a muscular pump; the working heart; cardiac ion channels; the cardiac action potential; the electrocardiogram; arrhythmias I - introduction and mechanisms; arrhythmias II - clinical manifestations and principles of therapy; the ischemic heart; heart failure.