The first practical, user-friendly guide to the theory and practice of a routinely used technique, this new manual provides the specialist in training with a thorough grounding in the equipment, procedures, and clinical findings with which clinicians need to be familiar. Conceived as an alternative to the large and expensive texts aimed at specialists, the handbook is divided into two sections, which present: a review of the main kinds of arrhythmia, with illustrations of typical ECG findings supported where appropriate by correlative imaging the principal diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including implantation of pacemakers, resynchronization therapy, use and placement of catheters and ablation techniques Providing practical guidance on clinical applications, and illustrated with numerous graphics, checklists and flowcharts to enable readers to locate information quickly and easily, Handbook of Cardiac Electrophysiology is an accessible resource covering a widespread, but complex technology.

Author Biography

Dr. Andrea Natale is the Medical Director for the Center for Atrial Fibrillation, Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratories, and Section Head of Pacing and Electrophysiology in the Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. As a cardiologist, he is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, and by the Italian Board of Medicine and the Italian Board of Cardiology. Dr. Natale specializes in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms. He has pioneered some of the present catheter based cures for atrial fibrillation. He was also the first electrophysiologist in the nation to perform percutaneous epicardial radiofrequency ablation, which is a treatment for patients who fail conventional ablations. In 2004, Dr. Natale was named among the "Best Doctors in America." Dr. Natale was born in Siracusa, Italy. He graduated summa cum laude from the Medical School of the University of Firenze, Italy in 1985 and summa cum laude from the Catholic University School of Cardiology in Rome, Italy. Dr. Natale received his clinical training in cardiology at Methodist Hospital, Baylor College in Houston, Texas and at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. After completing a clinical fellowship in cardiology (electrophysiology) at the University of Western Ontario in 1991, he further trained in cardiology (electrophysiology) at the University of Wisconsin, Sinai Samaritan Medical Center in Milwaukee. He was appointed to the Cleveland Clinic in 1999. Dr. Natale has held several academic appointments including Head of the Cardiovascular Physiopathology Section, Italian Air Force, Aerospace Research Centre, Department of Medicine, Rome, Italy; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director of Electrophysiology Laboratory, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; and Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Electrophysiology Program, University of Kentucky, Lexington. He currently serves as a Professor of Medicine, Ohio State University and the Program Director of the Electrophysiology Fellowship Program in the Department of Cardiology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, in addition to his other medical appointments. Dr. Natale's major research interests have focused on clinical studies of mechanisms for defibrillation, ablation treatment of supraventricular arrhythmias, clinical cardiac electrophysiology and TxAs metabolites production in patients with unstable angina and post-myocardial infarction. His research has been funded by the American Heart Association and the American Society of Echocardiography, among others. Dr. Natale has been an invited lecturer at more than 100 symposiums and conferences worldwide. He is the author or co-author of hundreds of published studies on pacing and electrophysiology. Dr. Natale serves as a reviewer on several editorial boards including PACE Official Journal of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology, the Journal of American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, American Heart Journal, Circulation and Journal of Electrocardiology. Dr. Natale has served as a grader for abstracts presented at professional association meetings of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and at the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. He is a member of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Italian Society of Cardiology, and the Italian College of Physicians. In his leisure time, Dr. Natale enjoys skiing and sailing.