Sudden Cardiac Death: A Handbook for Clinical Practice

Silvia Priori (Editor) , Douglas Zipes (Editor)

ISBN: 978-1-405-17335-3

Feb 2009, Wiley-Blackwell

304 pages

Description
This book draws on the established European guidelines from the ESC that address the key issues in sudden cardiac death, such as
identifying individuals at risk prior to an episode of a ventricular tachyarrhythmia or a sudden cardiac arrest, and responding in a timely
fashion to the person suffering the event out-of-the-hospital. It presents an update on what is known about sudden cardiac arrest, from basic
experimental studies to clinical trials, and serves as a complement to the ESC Core Syllabus on this subject.

Topics include epidemiology, genetics, arrhythmogenic mechanisms, risk stratification, autonomic nervous system and phenotypes. Disease
states and special populations are also covered, as well as drug, device and ablation treatments, and cost effectiveness. All chapters are co-
authored by experts from both Europe and the US.

The ESC Education Series

This book is part of the ESC Education Series. The series is designed to provide medical professionals with the latest information about the
understanding, diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases. Where available, management recommendations are based on the
established European Guidelines, which encompass the best techniques to use with each cardiac disease. Throughout the series, the
leading international opinion leaders have been chosen to edit and contribute to the books. The information is presented in a succinct and
accessible format with a clinical focus.

About the Author

Silvia G. Priori, MD, PhD, Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, Pavia, Italy

Douglas P. Zipes,Distinguished Professor, Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Division of Cardiology, Krannert
Institute of Cardiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IA, USA

BOOK REVIEWS Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation, By Hugh E. Stevenson, jr., M.D. Published by C. V.
Mosby Company, St. Louis, 1958; distributed in Great Britain by Henry Kimpton, London. Pp. 378; 31
illustrations. Price 90s. The size and scope of this massive work complete with no less than 52 pages of
references, goes a long way towards concealing the fundamental limitations of our knowledge on the
subject. The author is certainly to be congratulated on his work in establishing the Cardiac Arrest
Registry at the University of Missouri, which has collected details of more than 1,700 cases from all over
the world. He has made a thorough study of the management of cardiac arrest and the parts of the book
dealing with this are excellent. All the essential steps that should be taken are adequately described as
well as many additional measures which might be incorporated into a basic routine. There is much
valuable information in these chapters. However, the mobile resuscitation unit that he describes has
that final luxury touch unlikely to be realized in this country, which is probably just as well, since such a
mass of equipment would certainly lead to confusion in inexperienced hands. Just as good results can be
obtained by the prompt and efficient use of a much simpler outfit. The importance of avoiding delay in
reaching a diagnosis is rightly stressed, but it is a pity that a small oversight has lead to the alarming
remark that capillary refill is not observed till 20 to 30 minutes after the heart has stopped. The chapter
on postresuscitative care deals thoroughly with the cardiac arrhythmias occurring at this stage but is
very sketchy in other respects. Maintenance of electrolyte balance and management of chest
complications are dismissed most lightheartedly and hypothermia is not even mentioned. It is, however,
the long and tedious chapter on the aetiology of cardiac arrest that invites most criticism. Here the
author fails to distinguish between causation as such and factors whose association with cardiac arrest
may or may not be fortuitous. These latter include almost all surgical and diagnostic procedures in
patients with various combinations of co-existent pathology. A more logical arrangement and much
abbreviation here would enhance readability without loss of any important material. The fact of the
matter is that in the majority of cases, the cause of cardiac arrest during surgery is not known, as is
borne out by the paucity of advice contained in the chapter on prevention. The generous use of atropine
and local anaesthesia of the larynx are really the only practical measures advocated. The most revealing
statement concerning aetiology is that cardiac arrest is associated as frequently with good risk cases as
with poor risk cases. The suggestion that the former were given less meticulous care and attention
deserves thought. Little is said about postmortem findings in such cases, perhaps because little of value
is known. The author might be criticized in the matter of failure to define at the outset what exactly he
includes in the term "cardiac arrest". He mentions at one point "sudden and unexpected failure of the
cardiac conductive mechanism". At another "sudden failure of the propulsive force of the heart". At
other times he seems to be including in more general terms deaths associated with anaesthesia. A
bigger group still must be under consideration, surely, when he states-that one case of cardiac arrest
occurs in Los Angeles daily. This is followed by an almost hysterical comment to the effect that "sudden
cardiac arrest constitutes one of the chief hazards of surgery today." Cardiac arrest and its treatment
has attracted much attention recently on account of the potential reversibility of the disaster. A sense of
proportion, however, must be maintained as far as anaesthesia is concerned and what is needed is
further work to elucidate the causes and thus reduce the incidence of what, in the strictest definition, is
happily still a rare occurrence.

Elizabeth S. N. Fenton

373

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December 2018

Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation, By Hugh E. Stevenson, jr., M.D. Published by C. V.. Mosby
Company, St. Louis, 1958; distri- buted in Great Britain by Henry ..
SUDDEN CARDI AC ARRES T UK
Peer support for those affected by this life changing event
. LIFE AFTER CARDIAC ARREST BOOK
We are proud to announce that a compilation of some of the articles from our blog have
been brought together and published as a book and is now available through the
Amazon Kindle bookstore.

The majority of the contributions are from survivors but importantly also some
partners/life savers. The writings are of various types and are presented in the
chronological order that they were posted into the Facebook group forum or on the blog.

They feature some of the arrest events, survivors journeys and importantly stories of
hope. Many are emotive and will almost certainly bring a tear to even the hardest of
hearts. None of the authors are professional and this collection is aimed at others
similarly affected or those with an interest in the subject and it hopes to give a small
insight into the world of sudden cardiac arrests.

Perry Mason By Way Of Us Weekly: A Review Of Cardiac Arrest

A terrific account of a successful white-collar defense hits

the bookstores.
By JUSTIN DILLON
Jun 8, 2017 at 10:06 AM
 Ladies and gentlemen of the white-collar world,
let me introduce you to your book of the summer.

It’s called Cardiac Arrest (affiliate link), and it’s by a man named Howard Root and his
coauthor, Stephen Saltarelli. It is the most compelling, most insightful, and just plain dishiest
book I’ve read about the white-collar world since The Man to See(affiliate link). And it will
absolutely knock your socks off. (I should note that received a free copy of the book and
audiobook, but the decision to write about it at all, much less to praise it as I am about to do, was
entirely my own.)

It’s hard to know where to begin with my praise for this book, so let me start by telling you what
it’s about. Howard Root was the CEO of a company he founded in Minnesota called Vascular
Solutions, Inc. (VSI). It was a medical device company that, among other things, created and
sold devices to address problems like varicose veins. In 2011, the Department of Justice began
investigating VSI misbranding and other charges related to a VSI product that comprised — I kid
you not — 0.1 percent of the company’s total sales.

In 2014, both the company and Mr. Root were ultimately indicted in — of all places — the
Western District of Texas. (How it got there is a depressing story in its own right, well-recounted
in the book). Rather than do what 99 percent of people or companies would do in that situation
— plead — VSI and Howard Root decided to fight.

This book tells the story of that fight.

What makes it so compelling for anyone interested in white-collar work is the close-up view of
what it is like to take on the federal government and see as the government abuses its power time
and time again. The bullying that went on during the grand jury investigation, for example, will
make your jaw drop.
It’s one thing to talk in generalities about how the government so often abuses its power in
criminal cases, which people (including me) do all the time. But it’s another thing to have a book
take you, step by step, through abuse after abuse committed by the government — and name
names as it does so.

You will read excerpts from grand jury transcripts showing how prosecutors twisted witnesses’
words to make their case. You will hear from those witnesses, who recount being threatened with
indictment if they didn’t “fix” their testimony. You will hear about one witness’s lawyer being
told that her testimony was “pissing… off” the government because — of course — the
prosecutor wasn’t hearing what he wanted to hear.

You will learn the names of the prosecutors from Texas and from Main Justice who did these
things. (Can Google be karma?) You will laugh (unless you’re a prosecutor) as Mr. Root insults
them in impressively creative ways. Petty? Maybe. But if you tried to indict me and ruin the
company I’d built for something I didn’t do, and I had to spend millions of dollars defending
myself, I’d probably be a little pissed off too.

But Mr. Root doesn’t stop with the prosecutors. He pulls no punches with either of the two
judges assigned to the case. I won’t name them here, because I am a coward. But it’s hard not to
chuckle, and occasionally cackle, as he talks about some of the rulings in the case and how he
felt about them. One dialogue he imagines to have taken place at a Halloween party between the
lead AUSA on the case and the Texas-based judge initially assigned to it made me laugh out
loud. (It involves the AUSA dressed up as a giant strawberry.)

And that’s not all. For those of you who occasionally read ATL for the gossip, this is the one of
the dishiest pieces of legal writing that does not have “David Lat” in the byline.

That’s because he talks about the lawyers.

Mr. Root, as I suspect he would readily admit, was not an easy client. He himself was an
accomplished lawyer before founding his company, and he seems to have a very clear idea of
what he thinks makes a good lawyer and a bad lawyer. It’s hard to argue with that, because both
his life and his life’s work were on the line in this prosecution.

You will read how he goes through a few different sets of lawyers before finally settling on the
legal team that would take him through trial — Michael Pauzé, John Richter, and my friend Rob
Hur, all from King & Spalding. What they manage to accomplish at trial is nothing short of
astonishing, and the fly-on-the-wall view the book gives you is unparalleled. It’s also just plain
fun; reading Mr. Hur’s blistering cross-examination of a former VSI sales rep, for example, is
legal schadenfreude at its finest.

Before getting to them, though, he has quite a bit to say about the previous lawyers in the case.

It’s hard not to laugh, for example, when you see the CEO of a successful company describe his
lawyer — who co-chairs the white-collar practice of a prestigious national firm — as an
“arrogant prick” and criticize another lawyer for throwing him under the bus way too quickly,
 instead of actually thinking about a good defense strategy. (Pro tip: It’s probably not a great idea
to hire a patent lawyer to defend your white-collar case.)

In addition to being dishy, the book is also a master class in what good client service looks like.
Combine a meticulous and demanding client with a top-flight legal team, and it’s fascinating to
get such direct insight into what is involved in not only practicing law at a high level, but
delivering the best possible client service while you’re doing that. That’s something a lot of
lawyers don’t think about, but it’s crucially important. If this book teaches you nothing else, it
will teach you that you can never take your clients for granted. If you don’t do a good job, they
will fire you, no matter how fancy you are.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It was one of the most enjoyable legal books I’ve
ever read, and I think anyone interested in the white collar world will devour it. (I actually
listened to the Audible version, which had a wonderful narrator.)

In fact, I loved this book so much, and I think it’s so important for both defense lawyers and —
dare I hope — prosecutors to read, that I’m going to devote my next two columns to it. In the
next column, I’ll have an interview with Mr. Root and his coauthor, and in the last column, I’ll
talk to his legal team about the case. This book is just that good.

Justin Dillon is a partner at KaiserDillon PLLC in Washington, DC, where he focuses on white-
collar criminal defense and campus disciplinary matters. Before joining the firm, he worked as
an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, DC, and at the Civil Rights Division of the
Justice Department. His email is jdillon@kaiserdillon.com.

TOPICS

Books, Cardiac Arrest, White-Collar Crime

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