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EDITORIAL

The Brazilian Book of Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery

Ulisses Alexandre CrotiI; Sandra da Silva MATTOSII; Valdester Cavalcante PINTO Jr.III; Vera Demarchi AIELLOIV

DOI: 10.1590/S0102-76382008000200003




On April 18th, 2008, during the 35th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (BSCVS) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Brazilian Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery passed another milestone.

The release of the book, The Brazilian Book of Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, shows the high levels of ingenuity and closeness among the professionals involved in the Clinic and in the surgeries of congenital and childhood-acquired heart diseases.

The first step was taken by founding of the Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery Department (DCCVPed) of BSCVS. The department was formally established on September 29th, 2003, during the 58th Brazilian Congress of Cardiology of the Brazilian Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (BSCVS), in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil [1].

At that time, the cardiovascular surgeons involved in the Pediatrics within BSCVS began their work, and were headed by the first President, Dr. Valdester Cavalcante Pinto Jr. Among the countless projects that this first board took on during that time, some of them were ambitious, and among them was the making of a book with a primarily surgical approach.

Parallelly, Pediatric Cardiology - which for several years was organized as the Pediatric Cardiology Department (DCPed) of BSCVS - made great progress and, represented by its elected president Dr. Sandra Mattos da Silva - also had similar aspirations: they, too, hoped to develop a clinically-based book.

In November 2003, during the 18th Brazilian Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and the 10th Latin Congress of Pediatric Cardiology in Recife, O Pernambuco, Brazil, during the general meeting of DCPed of BSCVS (which is today the Brazilian Society of Pediatric Cardiology (SBCPed), also from BSCVS), the need of a collaboration between the Clinic and Surgery became clear, and one of the first projects would become the aforementioned book.

It was in this way that a new project was begun in Brazil's field of Pediatric Cardiology: a book composed of the kind of information that fulfills the aspirations of both departments, offering a variety tools for the professional improvement of clinicians and surgeons alike.

The outline that was originally developed by DCCVPed was expanded and revised to include new chapters and new authors, and its creators enlisted the skills of pediatric cardiologist physician Dr. Valeria Moreira de Melo to arrange the illustrations. Her contribution was crucial to the success of the final work, because, in addition to being a great artist and designer, she possesses established morphological and clinical knowledge, which ensured accurate surgical and anatomical illustrations.

On October 7th, 2004, the agreement was signed between the publisher Editora Roca and BSCVS. BSCVS was represented by Dr. Alexandre Visconti Brick, then current president of BSCVS; Dr. Ulisses Alexandre Croti, general coordinator; Dr. Sandra da Silva Mattos, clinical coordinator; Dr. Valdester Cavalcante Pinto Jr., surgical coordinator, and Dr. Vera DeMarchi Aiello as nomenclature coordinator.

The chapters, most of which were written by clinician(s) and surgeon(s), were delivered to colleagues in different regions of the country, because we wanted the largest possible representation, and we were aware about the pressing difficulties in several centers. Thus, the book would be one more factor to help improve the national image [2].

Each collaborator was invited to participate in only one chapter, independent of their roles as pediatric cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, pathologists, anesthesiologists, biologists, intensivists, researchers, radiologists or geneticists, among others.

The geographical distance was no obstacle, thanks to the current resources of the Internet: videoconferencing and the ability to transfer of large image files made the work possible. There was also significant effort of the group to be present at the Editora Roca publishing office for reviews and resolutions of problems that arose at any moment.

After three and a half years, we successfully completed a book with 56 chapters, 872 pages, 406 color pictures, 217 black and white pictures, 431 illustrations and 94 tables. The book includes contributions from 139 collaborators.

The book's introduction aimed to clarify the logistics of preparing the book and the priorities and choices that often were necessary to achieve the goal of using the best works possible from each subject.

The foreword, written by PhD Prof. Adib Domingos Jatene, emphasized the developments that Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery have shown in the last 50 years. Professor Jantene also noted that several techniques were originally developed in our practice.

The following are the words of the current president of BSCVS, Dr. José Teles de Mendonça, about the book: "The book is a landmark in the history of BSCVS." It makes us proud; it gives us the feeling of accomplished duty and an encouragement to move forward.

The immediate response to the book is evident from the large number of electronic correspondences, telephone calls, and compliments that came from around the country, congratulating the work.

This enthusiasm, also expressed by PhD Professors Rodolfo A. Neirotti and Domingo Marcolino Braile, has made it possible for us, together with the publisher Editora Roca, to initiate a working search for any other publisher that would be interested in translating the book into the Spanish language, with a subsequent publication in Latin America. Only time will tell...

We believe and hope that the book The Brazilian Book of Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery - which has as one of its foundations a prime example of the knowledge, originality and capacity of Brazilian professionals - may help not only the colleagues involved with congenital and childhoodacquired heart disease, but also the children. They are our primary motivation.


REFERENCES

1. Croti UA. Cartas ao editor. Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc 2003; 18(4):378.

2. Pinto Jr. VC, Daher CV, Sallum FS, Jatene MB, Croti UA, Situação das cirurgias cardíacas congênitas no Brasil. Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc 2004; 19(2):III-IV.
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