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We were particularly pleased to compile this volume entitled'Clinical Aspects of Cardiac Arrhythmias'. Recent years have seen the publication of many textbooks on cardiac arrhythmias, some of which concentrate on one particular aspect such as drug management, electrocardiographic appearances, electrophysiological evaluation etc; and others of which are the collated reports of symposia, often dealing with detailed con­ siderations of highly specialised problems. Most of the larger more comprehensive texts have devoted a substantial proportion to basic considerations and experimental observations, far removed from the clinical arena. When asked to contribute to the series'Current Status of Clinical Cardiology'we felt that the clinical aspects of cardiac arrhyth­ mias should be emphasized, and that the text should be as comprehensive as possible within the limitations of a single volume in this series. This comprehensive but clinical approach has necessitated the inclusion of certain subjects such as the mechanisms of tachycardia, metabolic aspects of cardiac arrhythmias and reperfusion arrhythmias, which are not directly or exclusively clinical. However, the rapid advances in these areas in recent years are likely to have increasingly important clinical con seq uences. Although the epidemiology of clinical arrhythmias is difficult to dis­ cover, it is widely appreciated that arrhythmias are commonplace.

Since the introduction of balloon angioplasty for the relief of coronary artery stenoses and of anginal symptoms in patients with coronary artery disease by Andreas Griintzig in 1977, the field of interventional technology and treatment strategies has grown enormously. For the reduction of hemodynamically significant coronary artery stenoses balloon angioplasty is the standard and reference method with a high primary success and low complication rate. Because of the relatively high recurrence rates of 30-40% of balloon angioplasty a whole family of different angioplasty techniques has been developed since then. Among those are atherectomy devices, laser angioplasty, radiofrequency angioplasty, high and low speed rotational angioplasty and stenting of stenosed vessels. Balloon angioplasty has been extended to aortic and mitral valve stenoses, and supraventricular and ventricular tachycardias can now be treated by catherter ablation techniques. In 1989 an International Symposium on standard and newer inter­ ventional techniques has been held at the University of Ulm. This volume contains the essential parts and presentations of the international faculty of experts in the field. In four chapters the principles, advantages, pitfalls and future developments of coronary angiopiasty, angioplasty of peripheral arteries, balloon valvuloplasty and of catheter ablation of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardias are described in detail. We hope that this'State-of-the-Art'representation will be of great value for both the non­ expert reader and the active researcher in the fields addressed within the book. V. Hombach, M. Kochs and A. J. Camm ix List of contributors U. U.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a major cause of human mortality and morbidity worldwide. Classical risk factors for atherosclerosis fail to account fully for the wide variations in CHD prevalence and/or severity between differing populations. The search for hitherto unrecognised risk factors has recently focused on the potential role of chronic inflammation and common infections. Chronic Infection, Chlamydia and Coronary Heart Disease is the first book to review the wealth of evidence linking various infective agents with CHD, focusing particularly on the proposed pathogenetic role of the main candidate microorganism, Chlamydia pneumoniae. Written by two leading investigators in the field, the book provides a concise, clearly written and up-to-date account of the diverse lines of evidence - seroepidemiological, pathological, animal and in vitro data and clinical antibiotic trials. The possibility of an infective basis to atherosclerosis and CHD has already attracted much scientific interest. Chronic Infection, Chlamydia and Coronary Heart Disease highlights the key published works on the topic, and concludes with information on existing, ongoing, and future lines of enquiry.