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Preface
Barney Marriott created
Practical Electrocardiography
in 1954 and nurtured it through eight
editions. After assisting him with the 8th edition, Galen Wagner enthusiastically accepted
the challenge of writing the subsequent editions. The 9th edition had extensive revisions
to the text, the 10th edition had almost completely new illustrations, and the 11th edition
had further text and figure updates and also an accompanying DVD with interactive ani-
mations. For this 12th edition, David Strauss joined Galen as coauthor. Galen and David
have been working together on electrocardiographic teaching and research challenges for
the past 9 years.
One of the strengths of
Marriott’s Practical Electrocardiography
through its more than
50-year history has been its lucid foundation for understanding the basis for ECG interpre-
tation. Again, in this revision, we have attempted to retain the best of the Marriott tradi-
tion—emphasis on the concepts required for everyday ECG interpretation and the simplici-
ties, rather than complexities, of the ECG recordings. Tobin Lim coauthored many of the
11th edition chapters and served as the primary developer of the digital content associated
with that edition.
Tobin Lim’s input continues into this 12th edition, and David Strauss has led even fur-
ther into the electronic-based interactive learning experiences. More than 30 of the figures
that evolved through previous editions have now been converted through the creative
expertise of Mark Flanders into animated movies accessed via QR codes embedded in the
book. David has also collaborated with electrocardiographic educators who are especially
skilled in e-based education to add interactive video content to many of the 12th edition
chapters. These include Raymond Bond and Dewar Finlay in Chapter 2, Charles (Bill)
Olson in the new Chapter 4, and Peter van Dam in Chapter 9.
The chapters are in the same order as in the 11th edition; however, two new chapters
have been added. In Chapter 4, Bill Olson, Harvey Estes, Vivian Kamphuis, and Esben
Carlsen contribute to the introduction of “The Three-Dimensional Electrocardiogram”; and
in Chapter 8, Albert Sun presents “Inherited Arrhythmia Disorders.” Each of the now 24
chapters is divided (as indicated in the table of contents) into discrete, compact “learning
units.” Each learning unit begins on a new page to provide blank space for the reader’s
notes. The purpose of the learning units is to make this book easier to use by allowing the
reader to be selective regarding the material to be considered at a particular time. Because
the modern student of electrocardiography is primarily oriented to a visual perspective, we
have typically begun each page with an illustration.
The four chapters in Section I (Basic Concepts) provide an introductory orientation to
electrocardiography. In Chapter 1 (“Cardiac Electrical Activity”), we include a basic per-
spective for those with no previous experience in reading ECGs. The reader is asked to
consider, “What can this book do for me?” and “What can I expect from myself after I have
completed this book?” Also in Chapter 1, the magnetic resonance images of the normal
heart in the thorax provide orientation to the relationship between the cardiac structures
and the body surface ECG recording sites. Animated video has been added to many of the
