Preface

This is the latest book in a series of related texts covering concepts of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and associated conditions. The latest volume is divided into three sections: "Cardiovascular Pathophysiology", "Cardiovascular Diagnostics", and "Cardiovascular Treatments".

Section 1, "Cardiovascular Pathophysiology," approaches subjects related to disease development. The chapters investigate the role of obesity in CVD, the emergence of cardiotoxicity, and the role of cardio-oncology, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted many routine but essential treatment options for cancer patients. Other topics discussed are the role of adiponectin in preeclampsia, CVD in Kawasaki disease, Takayasu arteritis in pediatrics, and stress-induced cardiomyopathy.

Section 2, "Cardiovascular Diagnostics," concentrates on modalities for detecting CVD including anthropometric measurements, echocardiography in pulmonary hypertension, assessment of hair cortisol and cardiometabolic risk, and cardiac troponin in postmortem samples obtained at autopsy.

Section 3, "Cardiovascular Treatments," focuses on interventional strategies to prevent or treat CVD, including discussions of the value of resistance exercise training, adherence to medical prescriptions for CVD, Treatment of type II diabetes mellitus, diagnosis and management of acute ischemic stroke, surgical interventions for valvular prosthesis, and cryoablation and transcatheter treatments for aortic valve disease.

This book is designed for general medical and biomedical students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It offers insightful updates on recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of cardiac diseases and new techniques added to the medical armamentarium to improve outcomes and prevent mortality; thus it is also of interest to those working in academic research and within the field of healthcare science. Finally, my thanks go to the authors of each chapter who have provided excellent scientific content and responded to editorial changes at speed. I also acknowledge the help and support of the book management team at IntechOpen.

> **Dr. David C. Gaze** School of Life Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, London, UK

Dedication

Dedicated to Edward (Ted) N. Flint

*25th December 1930 – 10th September 2022*

*The kindest man I have ever known, my grandfather.*
