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Clinical concepts in arrhythmias: an annual review — 1988
Internatlonul Elsevier
Journal
of Car&logy,
271
23 (1989) 277-218
IJC 00875
Book Reviews Heart Dysfunction
in Diabetes
Grant N. Pierce, Robert E. Beamish and Naranjan S. Dhalla; CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1988; 245 pp.; E93.50; ISBN O-8493-6887-1 This is a first edition text which deals primarily with the basic mechanisms of cardiac dysfunction associated with diabetes and its related investigations. It is an authoritative text which has been compiled by leading researchers in this field and provides an extensive reference-based textbook on the subject. As such, all the individual chapters are both extensively and extremely well referenced and the role of diabetes in cardiac disease is approached from a number of important angles, including consideration of the molecular and cellular levels. There is some clinical input, but this mainly relates to the initial chapter on the clinical problems associated with diabetes and a subsequent chapter dealing with the relationship of diabetes and atherosclerosis. As a result, it cannot really be recommended as a textbook for the clinician. It is very much a textbook aimed at the laboratory and animal research worker and, thus, deals extensively with abnormalities of cardiac ultrastructure, subcellular mechanisms and myocardial metabolism associated with diabetes. There is also an excellent chapter dealing specifically with the design of different research models for the study of diabetes. The textbook is well illustrated throughout and I found the index quite adequate and easy to use. This book will provide valuable information and act as a good basic reference text for those with particular interest in the basic mechanisms associated with diabetes and the heart or for those actively involved in this area of basic research. It is not a book that is aimed at, or likely to prove particularly useful in, the clinical setting. National London.
Heart U.K.
number of color flow map illustrations and. as such, is really a short atlas. It is unfortunate that, despite the number of illustrations, the majority of the images have been obtained using the earlier forms of color flow map instruments and, in addition, that the quality of reproduction is variable and generally disappointing. The textbook spans a variety of cardiac lesions, both adult and congenital, with short descriptive passages and figure legends which are generally quite informative. An area of minor irritation was that some of the text was quite distant from the illustrations to which it related. The concept put forward by the author, that color Doppler flow mapping is quite easy to learn and understand. is. I believe, somewhat misleading as there is a significant learning curve associated with this technique. Also, the principles of color Doppler flow mapping could be better explained. Those unfamiliar with the use of this technique may find this section does not provide sufficient detail. The author does, however, include some interesting observations concerning flow. particularly with respect to convective acceleration and the use of the color M-mode display, areas which have not been described well in other publications. The text does address some of the important problems and pitfalls encountered with the use of color Doppler flow mapping but does not really place the technique in clinical perspective relative to other noninvasive techniques or even spectral Doppler ultrasound. It is a well indexed book and quite reasonably referenced. There are, nonetheless. a number of other textbooks on color Doppler flow mapping which have been published recently with which this book may have some difficulty competing. As an extensively illustrated and short introductory text, it will provide a valuable addition to the library of anyone with an interest in cardiac Doppler ultrasound.
& Lung Institute Iain
Color Blood Flow Imaging
A. Simpson
Iain A. Simpson
of the Heart
Dierk A. Redel Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1988; 130 pp.; DM298; ISBN 3-540-16521-5 (Berlin), O-387-16521-5 (New York) This is a new edition of a textbook on color Doppler flow mapping which is largely based on a substantial 0167-5273/89/$03.50
National Heart & Lung Institute London. U.K.
0 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers
Clinical Concepts view - 1988
in Arrhythmias:
an Annual
Re-
Editors: Jerry C. Griffin and William J. Mandel Futura Publishing Company, Mount Kisco, New York, 1988; 341 pp.; $38.00; ISBN O-87993-333-X
B.V. (Biomedical
Division)
278
As indicated by the editors in their preface, the best single word to characterise clinical cardiac electrophysiology in the 1980’s is “expanding”. It is only natural. therefore, that the comparable expansion in volumes which review the world literature should encompass one devoted to this topic. This one is particularly good value. The editors tell us that they evaluated nearly 3000 original articles. letters. reviews and case reports to produce the finished book which contains almost 400 selected publications from the literature of 1987. The articles are chosen from over 80 journals. providing world-wide coverage with the now-expected American bias. The editors promise that this is to become an annual review of clinical electrophysiology and pacing. If subsequent reviews maintain the very high standards set in this, the prototype, they will be most welcome. The editors also express the hope that the book is laid out “in an organized and accessible fashion”. It certainly seems well organized to me. Separate chapters are devoted to basic aspects, drug treatment, the WolffParkinson-White syndrome. natriuretic factor, heart block, syncope. ventricular tachycardia, sudden cardiac death, late potentials, Holter monitoring, ablation, implanted devices for brady- and tachyarrhythmias. external defibrillation, and, to round things off, a chapter concerned with miscellanea. Then, just for completeness, both subject and author indices are provided! The competitors should take note of such excellent features. The body of the book is made up of the selected abstracts with very short editorial notes, most provided by Dr Mandel. I would have preferred to see slightly longer notes. For my taste, the more structured presentation of Chapters 12 and 13 by Dr Griffin has much to recommend it. In future volumes, I would certainly prefer this latter approach throughout the entire volume. even if it meant spreading the workload. This book certainly represents a major new contribution to the literature of cardiac arrhythmias. It is highly recommended. It will surely become an indispensable reference source for those who specialize in the field, and a suitable “sampler” for those less intimately involved. At $38, it is within everyone’s reach.
Pathology of the Heart and Great Vessels Editor: Bruce F. Wailer Churchill Livingstone, New York, 1988; 461 pp.; 255: ISBN 0-443-08551-X
Any new book devoted to the pathology of the cardiovascular system is to be welcomed. The title of this particular volume. however. is somewhat misleading. It is part of the series “Contemporary Issues in Surgical Pathology” and is. therefore, very much directed towards the practising pathologist. Although it certainly contains much which will be of interest to the cardiologist and surgeon, its major thrust is the study of surgical specimens rather than a broad view of cardiac pathology. As the editor indicates in his preface. improvements in the techniques of cardiac surgery in recent years have resulted in a decline in necropsy tissue reaching the pathologist concomitant with an increase in the number of specimens derived by means of surgical removal. This has led to the study of valvar heart disease becoming very much a procedure carried out in the room set aside for surgical pathology rather than in the autopsy suite. The volume of tissues needing analysis by the surgical pathologist now includes other materials besides excised cardiac valves, such as excised hearts from transplantations, endomyocardial biopsies. excised cardiac tumours and so on. The editor has, therefore, designed this book so as to review in one volume the information needed by today’s surgical pathologist who studies cardiovascular disease. To do this he has assembled a cast of exclusively North American pathologists. In this. he could be accused of chauvinism and insularity, particularly when the book is viewed from Europe where much excellent work has been done, for example. on the pathology of excised prosthetic valves. This. therefore, is one weakness of the book. Another is the total lack of any chapter concerned with congenital malformations. These lesions must surely generate surgical material, and constitute a large volume of work in many large centres. The twelve chapters that are present, nonetheless. cover much important ground and are well produced and illustrated. The editor himself is concerned in four chapters, and all bear his authoritative stamp. The first chapter, on the evaluation of native valves excised at operation, is particularly well constructed. William D. Edwards also contributes two excellently illustrated chapters, one on the aortic valve and the other on endomyocardial biopsy. With his experience. however. one would have hoped that he would have noted that the leaflets of the aortic valve do not have an annulus and. in the normal heart. are certainly not in continuity with those of the pulmonary valve as part of the “fibrous skeleton”. Such quibbles are very minor. By and large, the book is remarkably well produced and will be of great value to the surgical pathologist. It will also be of interest to the clinician and. at 55 pounds sterling. is a real bargain.
* European Editor, Infernational
National Heart & Lung Inst. London, U.K.
National Heart & Lung Inst. London, U.K.
Robert
H. Anderson
Journal of Cardiology.
*
Robert
H. Anderson
*
Journal
of Car&logy,
271
23 (1989) 277-218
IJC 00875
Book Reviews Heart Dysfunction
in Diabetes
Grant N. Pierce, Robert E. Beamish and Naranjan S. Dhalla; CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1988; 245 pp.; E93.50; ISBN O-8493-6887-1 This is a first edition text which deals primarily with the basic mechanisms of cardiac dysfunction associated with diabetes and its related investigations. It is an authoritative text which has been compiled by leading researchers in this field and provides an extensive reference-based textbook on the subject. As such, all the individual chapters are both extensively and extremely well referenced and the role of diabetes in cardiac disease is approached from a number of important angles, including consideration of the molecular and cellular levels. There is some clinical input, but this mainly relates to the initial chapter on the clinical problems associated with diabetes and a subsequent chapter dealing with the relationship of diabetes and atherosclerosis. As a result, it cannot really be recommended as a textbook for the clinician. It is very much a textbook aimed at the laboratory and animal research worker and, thus, deals extensively with abnormalities of cardiac ultrastructure, subcellular mechanisms and myocardial metabolism associated with diabetes. There is also an excellent chapter dealing specifically with the design of different research models for the study of diabetes. The textbook is well illustrated throughout and I found the index quite adequate and easy to use. This book will provide valuable information and act as a good basic reference text for those with particular interest in the basic mechanisms associated with diabetes and the heart or for those actively involved in this area of basic research. It is not a book that is aimed at, or likely to prove particularly useful in, the clinical setting. National London.
Heart U.K.
number of color flow map illustrations and. as such, is really a short atlas. It is unfortunate that, despite the number of illustrations, the majority of the images have been obtained using the earlier forms of color flow map instruments and, in addition, that the quality of reproduction is variable and generally disappointing. The textbook spans a variety of cardiac lesions, both adult and congenital, with short descriptive passages and figure legends which are generally quite informative. An area of minor irritation was that some of the text was quite distant from the illustrations to which it related. The concept put forward by the author, that color Doppler flow mapping is quite easy to learn and understand. is. I believe, somewhat misleading as there is a significant learning curve associated with this technique. Also, the principles of color Doppler flow mapping could be better explained. Those unfamiliar with the use of this technique may find this section does not provide sufficient detail. The author does, however, include some interesting observations concerning flow. particularly with respect to convective acceleration and the use of the color M-mode display, areas which have not been described well in other publications. The text does address some of the important problems and pitfalls encountered with the use of color Doppler flow mapping but does not really place the technique in clinical perspective relative to other noninvasive techniques or even spectral Doppler ultrasound. It is a well indexed book and quite reasonably referenced. There are, nonetheless. a number of other textbooks on color Doppler flow mapping which have been published recently with which this book may have some difficulty competing. As an extensively illustrated and short introductory text, it will provide a valuable addition to the library of anyone with an interest in cardiac Doppler ultrasound.
& Lung Institute Iain
Color Blood Flow Imaging
A. Simpson
Iain A. Simpson
of the Heart
Dierk A. Redel Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1988; 130 pp.; DM298; ISBN 3-540-16521-5 (Berlin), O-387-16521-5 (New York) This is a new edition of a textbook on color Doppler flow mapping which is largely based on a substantial 0167-5273/89/$03.50
National Heart & Lung Institute London. U.K.
0 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers
Clinical Concepts view - 1988
in Arrhythmias:
an Annual
Re-
Editors: Jerry C. Griffin and William J. Mandel Futura Publishing Company, Mount Kisco, New York, 1988; 341 pp.; $38.00; ISBN O-87993-333-X
B.V. (Biomedical
Division)
278
As indicated by the editors in their preface, the best single word to characterise clinical cardiac electrophysiology in the 1980’s is “expanding”. It is only natural. therefore, that the comparable expansion in volumes which review the world literature should encompass one devoted to this topic. This one is particularly good value. The editors tell us that they evaluated nearly 3000 original articles. letters. reviews and case reports to produce the finished book which contains almost 400 selected publications from the literature of 1987. The articles are chosen from over 80 journals. providing world-wide coverage with the now-expected American bias. The editors promise that this is to become an annual review of clinical electrophysiology and pacing. If subsequent reviews maintain the very high standards set in this, the prototype, they will be most welcome. The editors also express the hope that the book is laid out “in an organized and accessible fashion”. It certainly seems well organized to me. Separate chapters are devoted to basic aspects, drug treatment, the WolffParkinson-White syndrome. natriuretic factor, heart block, syncope. ventricular tachycardia, sudden cardiac death, late potentials, Holter monitoring, ablation, implanted devices for brady- and tachyarrhythmias. external defibrillation, and, to round things off, a chapter concerned with miscellanea. Then, just for completeness, both subject and author indices are provided! The competitors should take note of such excellent features. The body of the book is made up of the selected abstracts with very short editorial notes, most provided by Dr Mandel. I would have preferred to see slightly longer notes. For my taste, the more structured presentation of Chapters 12 and 13 by Dr Griffin has much to recommend it. In future volumes, I would certainly prefer this latter approach throughout the entire volume. even if it meant spreading the workload. This book certainly represents a major new contribution to the literature of cardiac arrhythmias. It is highly recommended. It will surely become an indispensable reference source for those who specialize in the field, and a suitable “sampler” for those less intimately involved. At $38, it is within everyone’s reach.
Pathology of the Heart and Great Vessels Editor: Bruce F. Wailer Churchill Livingstone, New York, 1988; 461 pp.; 255: ISBN 0-443-08551-X
Any new book devoted to the pathology of the cardiovascular system is to be welcomed. The title of this particular volume. however. is somewhat misleading. It is part of the series “Contemporary Issues in Surgical Pathology” and is. therefore, very much directed towards the practising pathologist. Although it certainly contains much which will be of interest to the cardiologist and surgeon, its major thrust is the study of surgical specimens rather than a broad view of cardiac pathology. As the editor indicates in his preface. improvements in the techniques of cardiac surgery in recent years have resulted in a decline in necropsy tissue reaching the pathologist concomitant with an increase in the number of specimens derived by means of surgical removal. This has led to the study of valvar heart disease becoming very much a procedure carried out in the room set aside for surgical pathology rather than in the autopsy suite. The volume of tissues needing analysis by the surgical pathologist now includes other materials besides excised cardiac valves, such as excised hearts from transplantations, endomyocardial biopsies. excised cardiac tumours and so on. The editor has, therefore, designed this book so as to review in one volume the information needed by today’s surgical pathologist who studies cardiovascular disease. To do this he has assembled a cast of exclusively North American pathologists. In this. he could be accused of chauvinism and insularity, particularly when the book is viewed from Europe where much excellent work has been done, for example. on the pathology of excised prosthetic valves. This. therefore, is one weakness of the book. Another is the total lack of any chapter concerned with congenital malformations. These lesions must surely generate surgical material, and constitute a large volume of work in many large centres. The twelve chapters that are present, nonetheless. cover much important ground and are well produced and illustrated. The editor himself is concerned in four chapters, and all bear his authoritative stamp. The first chapter, on the evaluation of native valves excised at operation, is particularly well constructed. William D. Edwards also contributes two excellently illustrated chapters, one on the aortic valve and the other on endomyocardial biopsy. With his experience. however. one would have hoped that he would have noted that the leaflets of the aortic valve do not have an annulus and. in the normal heart. are certainly not in continuity with those of the pulmonary valve as part of the “fibrous skeleton”. Such quibbles are very minor. By and large, the book is remarkably well produced and will be of great value to the surgical pathologist. It will also be of interest to the clinician and. at 55 pounds sterling. is a real bargain.
* European Editor, Infernational
National Heart & Lung Inst. London, U.K.
National Heart & Lung Inst. London, U.K.
Robert
H. Anderson
Journal of Cardiology.
*
Robert
H. Anderson
*