Book excerpt: The thoroughly updated second edition of this key textbook provides an authoritative discussion of cardiovascular disease for the practicing primary care clinician. It examines a variety of disease states with emphasis on risk factors, risk estimation, and established cardiac disease. The book also explores the co-morbid conditions that surround cardiovascular disease. It includes key points, algorithms, case studies, recommendations on evidence-based practice, and summary boxes. A key resource for the busy practitioner, the Second Edition of Comprehensive Cardiovascular Medicine in the Primary Care Setting is designed to give residents, fellows, and primary care physicians the skills to confidently perform assessments, initiate and maintain efficacious therapy, and know when a referral to a cardiologist is advisable.