Introduction

This book aims to provide non-specialist healthcare practitioners with current, focused and objective information on the most common vascular diseases encountered in daily clinical practice. In day-to-day clinical practice many healthcare practitioners do not have a working knowledge of the most common vascular diseases that frequently arise in patient care.

Topics Covered

Some of these topics include: aneurysms, peripheral arterial disease, diabetic foot, venous thromboembolism, cerebrovascular disease, aortic dissection, and acute limb ischemia. These commonly encountered vascular diseases are becoming public health issues due to their high morbidity and mortality as well as increasing healthcare costs.

Importance for General Practitioners

Since patients with vascular diseases are often referred to non-specialists, the general practitioner must know how to properly handle the most common vascular diseases encountered in daily clinical practice. For each disease, the concept, epidemiology, natural history, diagnosis, and treatment are described, followed by essential advice on what the non-specialist can do for the patient and when to refer the patient to a specialist.