Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart – Fourth Edition is the classic textbook of cardiac anatomy and morphology. This book is mandatory reading for all who care for patients with paediatric and congenital cardiac disease, as well as all who have interest in the congenitally malformed heart.
Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart has an impressive and important history. The first edition was authored by Benson R. Wilcox and Robert H. Anderson and was published in 1985. A unique and important contribution of the first edition was its display of normal and abnormal anatomy of the heart as perceived at the time of surgery. This contribution was achieved masterfully by the collaboration of a practising cardiac surgeon, Benson R. Wilcox, and a professional cardiac anatomist, Robert H. Anderson.
The second edition (Fig 1) was authored by Benson R. Wilcox and Robert H. Anderson and was published in 1992. The second edition retained the successful format of the first edition and added significantly to the illustrations, including a new chapter on cardiac valvar anatomy, and greatly expanded material related to the coronary arteries. In June of 1995, our dear friends Jacque and Steve Hertz [http://mg031970.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/miami-beach-residents-recognized-in-michaels-monthly-newsletters-from-january-2010-to-october-2011/] gave me a copy of the second edition as my wife and I left for the airport to fly to London to train at The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. This second edition was critical to my training in London and a constant resource as I have studied and learnt cardiac anatomy and morphology. I would study this book intensely every night before entering the operating theatre with my teachers Jarda Stark, Marc de Leval, and Martin Elliott. On February 2, 2002, during his first of 13 (and counting) consecutive annual visits to All Children's Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Florida, as a Visiting Professor, Bob Anderson autographed my copy of the second edition and wrote:
It is encouraging to know that this book in itself has been part of your own programme of acquisition of knowledge. But the contents of these pages are a bagatelle in terms of what we can now achieve!
Figure 1 SURGICAL ANATOMY of the HEART, Second Edition. Photograph taken December 7, 2013 by Joshua Alexander Jacobs.
The third edition was authored by Benson R. Wilcox, Andrew C. Cook, and Robert H. Anderson and was published in 2004. The same successful format was retained and more illustrations were added. The third edition retained the strategy of orienting intra-operative photographs as seen by the surgeon in the operating theatre, while using anatomical orientation for most pictures of specimens. In the third edition, the team of authors was expanded to include Andrew Cook, who is now Senior Lecturer at the Cardiac Unit of the Institute of Child Health, University College of London, London, United Kingdom.
This fourth edition (Fig 2) is authored by Robert H. Anderson, Diane E. Spicer, Anthony M. Hlavacek, Andrew C. Cook, and Carl. L. Backer, and is published in 2013. The fourth edition is dedicated to the founding surgical editor Benson R. Wilcox, and the book has been renamed: Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart – Fourth Edition.
Figure 2 Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart, Fourth Edition. Photograph taken December 7, 2013 by Joshua Alexander Jacobs.
Benson R. Wilcox (1932–2010), the founding surgical author, served 29 years (from 1969 to 1998) as Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr Wilcox earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History from the University of North Carolina in 1953 and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1957. He joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina in 1964, was appointed as Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery in 1969, and became a full Professor in 1971. He was named a Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine in 1967. After he retired as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr Wilcox remained on the UNC medical school faculty as Professor of Surgery from 1998 until his death.
Benson R. Wilcox [https://www.med.unc.edu/ct/news/Wilcox-obit] held leadership positions in multiple prestigious professional organisations, including Chairman of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Chairman of the Advisory Council for Cardiothoracic Surgery of the American College of Surgeons, and President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the largest society of thoracic surgeons in the world. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in 2003.
In 1980, Dr Wilcox spent time in London at the Royal Brompton National Heart and Lung Hospital during a sabbatical. During this sabbatical, he began an important collaboration with Robert H. Anderson. This important collaboration spanned multiple domains over several decades and is exemplified by the fourth edition of this textbook, which is dedicated to the memory of Benson R. Wilcox and has been renamed: Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart – Fourth Edition.
In the fourth edition, Diane Spicer, Anthony Hlavacek, and Carl Backer have joined the editorial team of Andrew Cook and Robert Anderson. Diane Spicer is a member of our team in Saint Petersburg, Florida, United States of America, and she has contributed multiple expert photographs of cardiac specimens. Diane has benefitted tremendously from her collaboration with Professor Anderson, who is the world's leading cardiac morphologist. In fact, Diane is now continuing to become one of the leading cardiac morphologists in the world herself! Anthony Hlavacek has provided remarkable images using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Carl Backer has taken over the role of surgical editor, and this transition from Wilcox to Backer is clearly a transition from strength to strength.
The fourth edition retains many of the key features of previous editions. Intra-operative photographs as still oriented as seen by the surgeon in the operating theatre. Figures are accompanied by a set of axes labelled superior, inferior, anterior, posterior, left, right, apex, and base, as appropriate. The organisation of the book will be familiar to the readers of previous editions. The first chapter describes surgical anatomy of the heart in general. The next set of chapter describes the surgical anatomy of the cardiac chambers, cardiac valves, coronary circulation, and conduction system. The remainder of the book describes the anatomy and morphology of congenitally malformed hearts, using the sequential segmental approach advocated by Anderson and colleagues.
The fourth edition of Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart is required reading for all who are interested in the congenitally malformed heart. It is mandatory to include this fourth edition in all libraries, both personal and academic, that cater to the needs of those who care for patients with congenitally malformed hearts. This book will have value to surgeons, cardiologists, anaesthesiologists, intensivists, neonatologists, maternal foetal specialists, advanced practice nurses, operating room nurses, catheterisation lab nurses, bedside nurses, sonographers, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, perfusionists, pathologists, pathologists’ assistants, and administrators. The value of this book truly spans conventional boundaries of subspeciality, geography, and time. Indeed, the fourth edition of Wilcox's Surgical Anatomy of the Heart is a classic textbook and “must-do” reading!!
