Peter H. Jarritt

Recent explorations in the neurosciences have been progressing towards an understanding of the relationship between brain struc­ ture and brain function. Having passed through an era which may be described as one of a localisationist philosophy, in which discrete brain areas were seen to subserve only discrete functions, the perspective of brain-behaviour relationships has advanced in recent years to an appreciation that a more holistic approach is not only heuristically valid, but is also most likely to lead to future advances. The close relationship between the mind and the brain has been appreciated since the time of Hippocrates when he opined 'men ought to know that from nothing else but thence [from the brain] comes joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency and lamentations ... and by this same organ we become mad and delirious and fears and terrors assail us'. In the nineteenth century, particularly in France and Germany, descrip­ tions of what are now recognised to be independent neurological diseases emerged following empirical clinical observations. Investi­ gation led to the identification in many cases of underlying struc­ tural abnormalities which could be linked to pathological changes.

The main subject of this book is the investigation of cardiac function and in particular ventricular function with radionuclide-based techniques. Emphasis is given to the study of clinical cases which can routinely occur in the life of a busy cardiological practice, by comparing conventional techniques, such as the electrocardiogram, the echocardiogram or the catheter study, with the newer nuclear medicine imaging procedures. Four basic images are given (end systole, end diastole, amplitude and phase), obtained either with a first pass or an equilibrium methodology, and the information analyzed. The clinical material is not exhaustive but covers a broad spectrum, with examples of coronary artery disease, valvular disease, cardiomyopathy, conduction disease and congenital heart disease. The book is aimed not only at the practising specialist (cardiologist, radiologist, nuclear medicine physician) but also at the general physician and surgeon interested in finding out what modern non­ invasive nuclear medicine procedures have to offer in the investigation of the heart. London, June 1982 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are specially grateful to the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust for its continuous support and interest.