Many thanks to the folks at McGraw-Hill for engaging in this 3rd edition—and especially the crew at Cenveo for their merciless editing and attention to detail—I am in awe. Thanks to my friends who tolerated a daily stream of textbook-related triumph and tragedy; and finally to my wonderful wife Barbara who found the strength to go along with yet another project.
Thanks to my parents (for so much); my wife (for everything); Sean, Brendan, and Alison (for putting up with me and my many absences from home); Irma Reubling (for a second chance); Ethel Freese, Randy Ice, Ray Blessey, Elizabeth Protas, Helen Hislop, Dave Nielson, Cindy Moore, Bill DeTurk, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Failure and Transplantation team (for the mentoring and opportunities); all of my past patients (for teaching me how to question); all of my past students (for asking the questions you thought were “stupid,” but were really the most important); and to all of my colleagues both here and abroad (thanks, Gum xia, Arigato, Gracias).