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Color atlas of anatomy; a photographic study of the human body
1154
BOOK REVIEWS
in Nimes and the HBpital Saint-Eloi in Montpellier, with the two editors coming from the former institution. I was not able to identify any references to original works on this subject by the senior authors, although these may be present but not prominently displayed. It is therefore not clear how or why these authors became interested in conducting a comprehensive review of pancreatic cancer. However, it is fortunate that they did; the team produced an informative and useful book. It is organized in outline form with the 12 chapters divided into 136 subsections, each identified in a decimal coding system. This degree of organization makes it very easy to locate a section of particular interest. The chapters include epidemiology, pathology, clinical features, biological studies, morphologic examinations (i.e., x-ray studies], therapy, supportive care, and the outlook and quality of life for the treated patient. As is often the case when several authors collaborate on a single narrow subject, there is a good deal of overlap and repetition. The chapter on strategies for diagnosis recapitulates and summarizes the material from the previous four chapters and the chapter on treatment strategies repeats and expands upon the material presented in a previous chapter on therapeutic management. Between these latter two is the chapter on the results of therapy, which seems out of place. The formality of the text is interrupted in a few places by case reports that are a little too casual for this type of presentation. Unfortunately, the text suffers from a less than perfect translation and the Gallic syntax that occasionally appears is distracting. A few words, although correct, are archaic and not commonly used in the American literature (apparition, for appearance; steatonecrosis, for fat necrosis; infraclinical, for subclinical; inosculation, for joining or uniting; and semiology, for study of signs). The text is complete and informative but far from exhaustive. Its outline form is fleshed out with an adequate text and numerous references, but with no attempt to go into great detail. The literature cited includes French and other European studies and Japanese literature, as well as British and American studies. Terminology, particularly in the area of pathology, is obviously a problem and has been well handled. Outlines for three different strategies for diagnosis are included. These are unnecessarily complex and could be reduced to a single one that would be more easily understood and remembered. Most of the illustrations are carefully chosen and well reproduced. For obvious reasons the emphasis in the treatment chapters is on surgery, with a strong endorsement of the more radical procedures developed by Joseph Fortner. Because of their associated higher rates of morbidity and mortality, these procedures have not yet gained wide acceptance in the United States. Similarly, the development of very brittle diabetes after total pancreatectomy continues to make many American surgeons lean toward the Whipple operation when feasible. The 5-yr cure rate of this disease is so low that very aggressive surgery with corresponding complications is still under critical review. CHARLES F. McKHANN, M.D New
Haven, Connecticut
GASTROENTEROLOGY
Vol. 95, No. 4
Infectious Diarrhea. Edited by Sherwood L. Gorbach. 328 pp. Blackwell Scientific Publications (Year Book Medical Publishers), Boston, Massachusetts, 1986. ISBN: 0-86542030-0.
This short, concise, and informative review contains chapters on specific disorders that are divided into brief sections covering microbiology, pathophysiology, immunology, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnoses, treatment, and prevention. The reader is thus able to quickly find the specific information being sought. The depth of coverage is not much greater than one finds in standard textbooks of gastroenterology. There is also little that is new in this book. However, it is my perception (perhaps wrongly) that little new information has been generated in the last couple of years. There is only brief mention of the newer antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin. Even so, this is a handy book to have on the shelf to quickly refresh your memory about a particular organism. It would also be useful for students wanting a quick overview of infectious diarrhea. IOHN DOBBINS, M.D.
New Haven, Connecticut
Color Atlas of Anatomy; a Photographic Study of the Human Body. Second ed. Edited by Johannes W. Rohen, Chihiro Yokochi, and E.C.B. Hall-Craggs. 469 pp., >lOOO figures, $45.00. Igaku-Shoin, New York, New York, and Tokyo, Japan, 1988. ISBN: o-89640-141-3. Dissection Manual: Companion to RohenlYokochilHallCraggs Color Atlas of Anatomy. Second ed. Edited by Jack L. Wilson. 244 pp., 94 figures, $19.50. Igaku-Shoin, New York, New York, and Tokyo, Japan, 1988. ISBN: 0-89640142-1. Discussion as to the relative utility of drawings versus photographs for illustrating gross anatomy may well be settled by the RoheniYokochiiHall-Craggs atlas. Drawings, it has been claimed, are superior because they present all necessary details without the distraction of extraneous material. Photographs have been preferred by others for their realism. The present volume achieves both goals. The dissections are superb. Muscles, vessels, and so on have been flawlessly revealed and relationships have been preserved in spite of meticulous cleaning. This difficult achievement was followed by masterful photography in natural color. A sense of third dimension was obtained without conspicuous and obscuring areas of shadow. Such is the clarity of the photographs that “the use of a magnifier is strongly recommended” to appreciate fine detail, as in a dissection of the entire trigeminal nerve. All of its branches and relations can be seen in one remarkable photograph. For each of the nine chapters the presentation is first systematic and then regional. Bones, vessels, nerves, muscles, and so on are shown separately, sometimes as diagrams, and then there are views of progressive dissections of the region. Arteries and veins are distinctively colored only when necessary to distinguish them from each other.
BOOK REVIEWS
in Nimes and the HBpital Saint-Eloi in Montpellier, with the two editors coming from the former institution. I was not able to identify any references to original works on this subject by the senior authors, although these may be present but not prominently displayed. It is therefore not clear how or why these authors became interested in conducting a comprehensive review of pancreatic cancer. However, it is fortunate that they did; the team produced an informative and useful book. It is organized in outline form with the 12 chapters divided into 136 subsections, each identified in a decimal coding system. This degree of organization makes it very easy to locate a section of particular interest. The chapters include epidemiology, pathology, clinical features, biological studies, morphologic examinations (i.e., x-ray studies], therapy, supportive care, and the outlook and quality of life for the treated patient. As is often the case when several authors collaborate on a single narrow subject, there is a good deal of overlap and repetition. The chapter on strategies for diagnosis recapitulates and summarizes the material from the previous four chapters and the chapter on treatment strategies repeats and expands upon the material presented in a previous chapter on therapeutic management. Between these latter two is the chapter on the results of therapy, which seems out of place. The formality of the text is interrupted in a few places by case reports that are a little too casual for this type of presentation. Unfortunately, the text suffers from a less than perfect translation and the Gallic syntax that occasionally appears is distracting. A few words, although correct, are archaic and not commonly used in the American literature (apparition, for appearance; steatonecrosis, for fat necrosis; infraclinical, for subclinical; inosculation, for joining or uniting; and semiology, for study of signs). The text is complete and informative but far from exhaustive. Its outline form is fleshed out with an adequate text and numerous references, but with no attempt to go into great detail. The literature cited includes French and other European studies and Japanese literature, as well as British and American studies. Terminology, particularly in the area of pathology, is obviously a problem and has been well handled. Outlines for three different strategies for diagnosis are included. These are unnecessarily complex and could be reduced to a single one that would be more easily understood and remembered. Most of the illustrations are carefully chosen and well reproduced. For obvious reasons the emphasis in the treatment chapters is on surgery, with a strong endorsement of the more radical procedures developed by Joseph Fortner. Because of their associated higher rates of morbidity and mortality, these procedures have not yet gained wide acceptance in the United States. Similarly, the development of very brittle diabetes after total pancreatectomy continues to make many American surgeons lean toward the Whipple operation when feasible. The 5-yr cure rate of this disease is so low that very aggressive surgery with corresponding complications is still under critical review. CHARLES F. McKHANN, M.D New
Haven, Connecticut
GASTROENTEROLOGY
Vol. 95, No. 4
Infectious Diarrhea. Edited by Sherwood L. Gorbach. 328 pp. Blackwell Scientific Publications (Year Book Medical Publishers), Boston, Massachusetts, 1986. ISBN: 0-86542030-0.
This short, concise, and informative review contains chapters on specific disorders that are divided into brief sections covering microbiology, pathophysiology, immunology, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnoses, treatment, and prevention. The reader is thus able to quickly find the specific information being sought. The depth of coverage is not much greater than one finds in standard textbooks of gastroenterology. There is also little that is new in this book. However, it is my perception (perhaps wrongly) that little new information has been generated in the last couple of years. There is only brief mention of the newer antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin. Even so, this is a handy book to have on the shelf to quickly refresh your memory about a particular organism. It would also be useful for students wanting a quick overview of infectious diarrhea. IOHN DOBBINS, M.D.
New Haven, Connecticut
Color Atlas of Anatomy; a Photographic Study of the Human Body. Second ed. Edited by Johannes W. Rohen, Chihiro Yokochi, and E.C.B. Hall-Craggs. 469 pp., >lOOO figures, $45.00. Igaku-Shoin, New York, New York, and Tokyo, Japan, 1988. ISBN: o-89640-141-3. Dissection Manual: Companion to RohenlYokochilHallCraggs Color Atlas of Anatomy. Second ed. Edited by Jack L. Wilson. 244 pp., 94 figures, $19.50. Igaku-Shoin, New York, New York, and Tokyo, Japan, 1988. ISBN: 0-89640142-1. Discussion as to the relative utility of drawings versus photographs for illustrating gross anatomy may well be settled by the RoheniYokochiiHall-Craggs atlas. Drawings, it has been claimed, are superior because they present all necessary details without the distraction of extraneous material. Photographs have been preferred by others for their realism. The present volume achieves both goals. The dissections are superb. Muscles, vessels, and so on have been flawlessly revealed and relationships have been preserved in spite of meticulous cleaning. This difficult achievement was followed by masterful photography in natural color. A sense of third dimension was obtained without conspicuous and obscuring areas of shadow. Such is the clarity of the photographs that “the use of a magnifier is strongly recommended” to appreciate fine detail, as in a dissection of the entire trigeminal nerve. All of its branches and relations can be seen in one remarkable photograph. For each of the nine chapters the presentation is first systematic and then regional. Bones, vessels, nerves, muscles, and so on are shown separately, sometimes as diagrams, and then there are views of progressive dissections of the region. Arteries and veins are distinctively colored only when necessary to distinguish them from each other.