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Advances in Neurology, vol. 2 (Treatment of parkinsonism. The role of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors)
Journal ol"the neurological Sciences, 1974, 23 : 485-487 i!: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam
485 Printed in The Netherlands
Book Reviews
Cerebral Interhemispheric Relations, (Proceedings of an International Colloquium, Smolenice, Czechoslovakia, 9-14 June, 1969), by J. CERNA~EKAYD F. PODIVINSK~ (Eds.), 461 pages, 130 illustrations, 26 tables, Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, 1972, Kc. 45.00. This book summarizes the proceedings of a meeting on the corpus callosum held in June 1969 at Smolcnice, Czechoslovakia. This book is not useful for the reader who is interested primarily in spontaneous or surgically-induced clinical callosal syndromes since this topic receives little discussion. The main value of this collection will be for the
specialist reader interested in neurophysiological investigations on the callosum, particularly Eastern European studies that might be unfamiliar or might appear in inaccessible journals. N. GESCHWIND
Limbisches System und Epilepsie. Neuere Erkenntnisse iiber Aujbau, Funktion, Stgrungen und Operabilitdt des sogenannten Viszeralhirns ( A k t u e l l e P r o b l e m e i n d e r Psychiatrie. Neurologie, Neurochirurgie,
V o l . 9), b y F. HEPPNER (Ed.), 116 p a g e s , 42
i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 3 t a b l e s , H a n s H u b e r , B e r n , 1973, S F r . 2 7 . 0 0 ; D M 24.00. Mit Recht weist Heppner in seiner Einleitung zu dem kleinen und interessanten Bfichlein fiber das limbische System him dass in der Entwicklung des SS.ugetierhirns eine merkwfirdige Diskrepanz besteht: das limbische System nimmt an Masse iln Laufe der Evolution immer mehr zu, wfihrend im gleichen Sinne der Geruchssinn eher verkfimmert. Es muss also wahrscheinlich ffir Lebensvorg~inge yon anderer aber wohl doch fundamentaler Wichtigkeit dienen. Das limbische System scheint also einen dem Thalamus und der hinteren Zentralwindung nebengeordneten Integrationsort darzustellen, bei dem vielleicht sogar eine gewisse "homunculusartige" Repr~isentation der signalgebenden Herkunftsgebiete vorhanden ist. Ein kleines Symposion hat sich mit diesen Fragen befasst dessen Vortrage hier zusammengefasst werden.
In der Einleitung weist Heppner auf die M6glichkeiten chirurgischer Unterbrechung anatomischer und funktioneller Systeme hin. In der Folge werden anatomische Darstellungen fiber die Entwicklung des limbischen Systems, grundlegende Reflexionen fiber die funktionelle Bedeutung und die M6glichkeit der Provokation epileptischer Manifestationen insbesondere auch der psychomotorischen Krisen wiedergegeben, wie auch die pathologisch-anatomischen Ver/inderungen gewfirdigt. hn Schlusskapitel wurden die M6glichkeiten chirurgischer Eingriffe am limbischen System gerade zur Behandlung epileptischer Krisen noch cinmal gewfirdigt. Das Buch enth~ilt eine Reihe interessanter und anregender, meist recht fibersichtlicher Vortr~ige.
K. J. ZCJIX'H
Advances in Neurology, Vol. 2 (Treatment of Parkinsonism. The Role of Dopa Decarboxvlase lnhibitors), b y M . D. YAHR (Ed.), xiv + 303 p a g e s , 51 i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 44 t a b l e s . North-Holland
Publishing Company,
Amsterdam,
Like the first volume in the Raven Press and NorthHolland Publishing Company's Advancesin Neurolo,qy series, this book presents the proceedings of a meeting held in November 1972 under the joint sponsorship of the Parkinson's Disease Founda-
1973, Dfl. 50.00, U S $ 17.50.
tion and Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Labotories in order to consider the position at that time with respect to the role of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors in the treatment of Parkinsonism. The scope of the volume is therefore a restricted one and,
486
BOOK REVIEWS
as a result, it ~s likely to appeal to a relatively limited audience. Nevertheless. the 16 chapters have been carefully selected and arranged in order m deal comprehensively with one of the major growing points in neuropharmacology. As the editor. Dr. Yahr, says m his Preface, investigations derived from many disciplines within the neurological sciences have contributed to new developments in the rapidly expanding field of pharmacological control of behavioural abnormalities and disturbances of motor function occurring in diseases ol the basal ganglia, As the presentations at this symposium clearly indicate, the use of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors in order to prevent the rapid degradation of dopa in the tissues allows ingested levodopa to be made more readily and rapidly available to the brain. This combination of drugs not only reduces the required daily dose of levodopa and the side-effects which results fiom its
administrant)n, but also appear', ::, actnc~e more selective distribution of dopa wit hi1~ the brain This therefore is a useful and reasonably concise review of the p o s m o n as it stood m ihc time of the meeting m November 1972 It is a ?,leasantty produced volume of just over 300 page~: it will appeal especially to pharmacologists an,~ nearologist~ working on Parkinsonism amt other movemenl disorders, However. its appeal )o otucr neurolog~st~ )s liken to be somewhm less. ~i~wc despite the efforts of the editor and the publisher:< to achieve rapid publication---an aim in which the3 have been unusually successful-- there have bL'en stgnificant new developments in this ever-changing field e~en since the book was published al~d hence it wili unfortunately be rapidly outdated Jtm;, N, W,Xl TON
PiMiatrische Radiologie. Lehrbuch in 2 BiJnden. by F. SCHMID (Ed.), with the cooperation o f W . SCHUSTER. D . BEDUHN. G . FUCHS. K . GEFFERTH, H . GIESEN, I t . GUTHFM_. H . - M . HEINISCH. R. KOBEL H. Mot.t.. M. NEUH~/,USER. M. SCHELL-SctlOMBIiR(;. HSCHUSTER. U . WEMMER. W .
WFNZ
AND E. Z A P P .
Springer-Verlag, Be:lin,
197L
VoL 1 (Stiitzgewebe--Zentralnervensystem-Syndrome). xix+504 pages. 491 illustrations. 86 tables. DM 248.00. US $101.20: subscription price [if 2 volumes are ordered) DM 198.40. US $ 81.00, Vol 2 , Thoraxorgane Verdauungstrakt Uro¢jenitaltrakt ,. xvi+525 pages. 625 illustrations. 32 tables. D M 248.00. US $101.20: subscription price (if2 volumes arc ordered) DM 198.40. US $ 81.00, This is a comprehensive text book on the radiology of children. It seems to be aimed at an elementary and intermediate level of expertise and is not a book for the established specialist, though some of the collected data in table form will be universally valuable, The skeletal section, particularly that concerned with normal growth and developmental abnormalities, is comprehensive and accompanied by a large n u m b e r of tables and illustrative diagrams. The reproductions of radiographs, though small. are excellent and. with few exceptions, show what they are supposed to do. The chapter devoted to plain skull X-rays. however. ts perhaps overweighted with numerical data about skull growth, to the detriment o f descriptive material [and illustrations) of pathological processes. Neuroradiology is described in 38 pages and is therefore, of necessity, more or less a precis, accompanied by random pictures. That part devoted to the spinal cord is particularly short: there are no pictures of air myelograms and only one sentence about spinal angiography. There is a chapter on soft tissues which is largely concerned with changes in 'muscles and ectopic calcification, and finally a most useful and unusual s u m m a r y of named syndromes, giving their princi-
pal symptoms, key references and usual radiological appearances. Volume 2 is devoted to the thorax and abdomen, In the main the lung diseases are described under their diagnostic label while, by contrast, mediastinal abnormalities are treated as a differential diagnostic problem under the general heading o f °°widening of the central shadow". This is an essential compromise between methods, bul the elementary student probably gets more out of the second arrangement than the first. The quality o f reproduction of chest, X-rays does not compare with those o f the bones in Volume 1. largely because small pictures printed as positives are highly unsatisfactory t\~r the demonstration of lung shadows. I n the urogenital section, the m e t h o d of illustration again pays off. The pictures are well-chosen' and show what they are intended to illustrate. T h r o u g h o u t the book great pains have been taken to contain the radiologieal information within its clinical context, and this is especially valuable where, as in congeni tal heart disease, the radiologist nmst fully grasp the Clinical problem. The English reader will value these.two volume~s for the basic data which the authors have taken trouble to collect and arrange in tabular form *2 DU BOULA~
485 Printed in The Netherlands
Book Reviews
Cerebral Interhemispheric Relations, (Proceedings of an International Colloquium, Smolenice, Czechoslovakia, 9-14 June, 1969), by J. CERNA~EKAYD F. PODIVINSK~ (Eds.), 461 pages, 130 illustrations, 26 tables, Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, 1972, Kc. 45.00. This book summarizes the proceedings of a meeting on the corpus callosum held in June 1969 at Smolcnice, Czechoslovakia. This book is not useful for the reader who is interested primarily in spontaneous or surgically-induced clinical callosal syndromes since this topic receives little discussion. The main value of this collection will be for the
specialist reader interested in neurophysiological investigations on the callosum, particularly Eastern European studies that might be unfamiliar or might appear in inaccessible journals. N. GESCHWIND
Limbisches System und Epilepsie. Neuere Erkenntnisse iiber Aujbau, Funktion, Stgrungen und Operabilitdt des sogenannten Viszeralhirns ( A k t u e l l e P r o b l e m e i n d e r Psychiatrie. Neurologie, Neurochirurgie,
V o l . 9), b y F. HEPPNER (Ed.), 116 p a g e s , 42
i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 3 t a b l e s , H a n s H u b e r , B e r n , 1973, S F r . 2 7 . 0 0 ; D M 24.00. Mit Recht weist Heppner in seiner Einleitung zu dem kleinen und interessanten Bfichlein fiber das limbische System him dass in der Entwicklung des SS.ugetierhirns eine merkwfirdige Diskrepanz besteht: das limbische System nimmt an Masse iln Laufe der Evolution immer mehr zu, wfihrend im gleichen Sinne der Geruchssinn eher verkfimmert. Es muss also wahrscheinlich ffir Lebensvorg~inge yon anderer aber wohl doch fundamentaler Wichtigkeit dienen. Das limbische System scheint also einen dem Thalamus und der hinteren Zentralwindung nebengeordneten Integrationsort darzustellen, bei dem vielleicht sogar eine gewisse "homunculusartige" Repr~isentation der signalgebenden Herkunftsgebiete vorhanden ist. Ein kleines Symposion hat sich mit diesen Fragen befasst dessen Vortrage hier zusammengefasst werden.
In der Einleitung weist Heppner auf die M6glichkeiten chirurgischer Unterbrechung anatomischer und funktioneller Systeme hin. In der Folge werden anatomische Darstellungen fiber die Entwicklung des limbischen Systems, grundlegende Reflexionen fiber die funktionelle Bedeutung und die M6glichkeit der Provokation epileptischer Manifestationen insbesondere auch der psychomotorischen Krisen wiedergegeben, wie auch die pathologisch-anatomischen Ver/inderungen gewfirdigt. hn Schlusskapitel wurden die M6glichkeiten chirurgischer Eingriffe am limbischen System gerade zur Behandlung epileptischer Krisen noch cinmal gewfirdigt. Das Buch enth~ilt eine Reihe interessanter und anregender, meist recht fibersichtlicher Vortr~ige.
K. J. ZCJIX'H
Advances in Neurology, Vol. 2 (Treatment of Parkinsonism. The Role of Dopa Decarboxvlase lnhibitors), b y M . D. YAHR (Ed.), xiv + 303 p a g e s , 51 i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 44 t a b l e s . North-Holland
Publishing Company,
Amsterdam,
Like the first volume in the Raven Press and NorthHolland Publishing Company's Advancesin Neurolo,qy series, this book presents the proceedings of a meeting held in November 1972 under the joint sponsorship of the Parkinson's Disease Founda-
1973, Dfl. 50.00, U S $ 17.50.
tion and Merck, Sharp & Dohme Research Labotories in order to consider the position at that time with respect to the role of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors in the treatment of Parkinsonism. The scope of the volume is therefore a restricted one and,
486
BOOK REVIEWS
as a result, it ~s likely to appeal to a relatively limited audience. Nevertheless. the 16 chapters have been carefully selected and arranged in order m deal comprehensively with one of the major growing points in neuropharmacology. As the editor. Dr. Yahr, says m his Preface, investigations derived from many disciplines within the neurological sciences have contributed to new developments in the rapidly expanding field of pharmacological control of behavioural abnormalities and disturbances of motor function occurring in diseases ol the basal ganglia, As the presentations at this symposium clearly indicate, the use of dopa decarboxylase inhibitors in order to prevent the rapid degradation of dopa in the tissues allows ingested levodopa to be made more readily and rapidly available to the brain. This combination of drugs not only reduces the required daily dose of levodopa and the side-effects which results fiom its
administrant)n, but also appear', ::, actnc~e more selective distribution of dopa wit hi1~ the brain This therefore is a useful and reasonably concise review of the p o s m o n as it stood m ihc time of the meeting m November 1972 It is a ?,leasantty produced volume of just over 300 page~: it will appeal especially to pharmacologists an,~ nearologist~ working on Parkinsonism amt other movemenl disorders, However. its appeal )o otucr neurolog~st~ )s liken to be somewhm less. ~i~wc despite the efforts of the editor and the publisher:< to achieve rapid publication---an aim in which the3 have been unusually successful-- there have bL'en stgnificant new developments in this ever-changing field e~en since the book was published al~d hence it wili unfortunately be rapidly outdated Jtm;, N, W,Xl TON
PiMiatrische Radiologie. Lehrbuch in 2 BiJnden. by F. SCHMID (Ed.), with the cooperation o f W . SCHUSTER. D . BEDUHN. G . FUCHS. K . GEFFERTH, H . GIESEN, I t . GUTHFM_. H . - M . HEINISCH. R. KOBEL H. Mot.t.. M. NEUH~/,USER. M. SCHELL-SctlOMBIiR(;. HSCHUSTER. U . WEMMER. W .
WFNZ
AND E. Z A P P .
Springer-Verlag, Be:lin,
197L
VoL 1 (Stiitzgewebe--Zentralnervensystem-Syndrome). xix+504 pages. 491 illustrations. 86 tables. DM 248.00. US $101.20: subscription price [if 2 volumes are ordered) DM 198.40. US $ 81.00, Vol 2 , Thoraxorgane Verdauungstrakt Uro¢jenitaltrakt ,. xvi+525 pages. 625 illustrations. 32 tables. D M 248.00. US $101.20: subscription price (if2 volumes arc ordered) DM 198.40. US $ 81.00, This is a comprehensive text book on the radiology of children. It seems to be aimed at an elementary and intermediate level of expertise and is not a book for the established specialist, though some of the collected data in table form will be universally valuable, The skeletal section, particularly that concerned with normal growth and developmental abnormalities, is comprehensive and accompanied by a large n u m b e r of tables and illustrative diagrams. The reproductions of radiographs, though small. are excellent and. with few exceptions, show what they are supposed to do. The chapter devoted to plain skull X-rays. however. ts perhaps overweighted with numerical data about skull growth, to the detriment o f descriptive material [and illustrations) of pathological processes. Neuroradiology is described in 38 pages and is therefore, of necessity, more or less a precis, accompanied by random pictures. That part devoted to the spinal cord is particularly short: there are no pictures of air myelograms and only one sentence about spinal angiography. There is a chapter on soft tissues which is largely concerned with changes in 'muscles and ectopic calcification, and finally a most useful and unusual s u m m a r y of named syndromes, giving their princi-
pal symptoms, key references and usual radiological appearances. Volume 2 is devoted to the thorax and abdomen, In the main the lung diseases are described under their diagnostic label while, by contrast, mediastinal abnormalities are treated as a differential diagnostic problem under the general heading o f °°widening of the central shadow". This is an essential compromise between methods, bul the elementary student probably gets more out of the second arrangement than the first. The quality o f reproduction of chest, X-rays does not compare with those o f the bones in Volume 1. largely because small pictures printed as positives are highly unsatisfactory t\~r the demonstration of lung shadows. I n the urogenital section, the m e t h o d of illustration again pays off. The pictures are well-chosen' and show what they are intended to illustrate. T h r o u g h o u t the book great pains have been taken to contain the radiologieal information within its clinical context, and this is especially valuable where, as in congeni tal heart disease, the radiologist nmst fully grasp the Clinical problem. The English reader will value these.two volume~s for the basic data which the authors have taken trouble to collect and arrange in tabular form *2 DU BOULA~