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Doppler echocardiography, 2nd ed.
International Journal of Cardiology, 26 (1990) 121-122 Elsevier
CARD10
121
01002
Book Reviews Color Doppler Flow Imaging and Other Advances in Doppler Echocardiography
Doppler Echocardiography,
Editor:
Donnerstein Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, ISBN 0-8121-1106-O
J. Roelandt
Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht/ Boston/ Lancaster, 1986; 222 pp.; $86, &62; ISBN o-89838-806-6 This textbook sets out to provide the reader with an insight into the latest advances in the field of Doppler ultrasound and to a large extent it manages to achieve this. The title emphasising color Doppler flow imaging is somewhat of a misnomer in that color flow mapping comprises only a portion of the book’s content yet the other sections are in some ways more valuable. The other two broad areas dealt with are firstly the technical aspects and physical principles of Doppler ultrasound and secondly the clinical advances in Doppler echocardiography aside from those of color Doppler flow mapping. In fact the textbook is a compilation of manuscripts presented at an international echo/Doppler meeting yet the result is a very interesting and valuable textbook. The nature of the book makes it impossible to provide a comprehensive account on all aspects of Doppler ultrasound but those that are included are generally done well. Doppler ultrasound continues to be a rapidly advancing subspecialty and as such a book dealing with recent advances must become more quickly outdated. This is true particularly of the section on color Doppler flow mapping. Nevertheless, other parts of the book are unlikely to become outdated. The section dealing with technical aspects is an excellent one and the chapter dealing with the Bernoulli principle is a “must read” for anyone involved in the cardiac Doppler ultrasound. The book could easily be recommended for this section alone. This is not really a book for the beginner though they would undoubtedly benefit from many of the more fundamental chapters but it would certainly be a valuable addition to the library of anyone actively involved in cardiac Doppler ultrasound. Dept. of Cardiology St. George’s Hospital London, U.K.
0167-5273/90/$03.50
Iain A. Simpson
S.J.
Goldberg,
H.D.
Allen,
2nd ed. G.R. 1988;
Marx
and R.L.
315 pp.; ;E30;
Doppler echocardiography is now a firmly established non-invasive technique in the detection of heart disorders. This book goes a long way in making the understanding of Doppler ultrasound easy. It contains 7 chapters, all of which are well illustrated. It is written by authors, who are among the leaders in this field, and their knowledge and understanding of Doppler techniques and their ability to impart this to others is apparent all through the book. Chapter 1 presents a brief history of Doppler echocardiography. Chapter 2 deals with the basic Doppler physics. Despite the complex physics involved, this chapter is interesting and easy to understand. Chapter 3 contains detailed guidelines for performing a Doppler study, which are invaluable to a beginner as well as an experienced echocardiographer. Chapters 4 and 5 detail the theoretical aspects of turbulent flow, pressure drop calculation and computation of blood flows in various cardiac chambers. Chapter 6 highlights the clinical application of Doppler ultrasound and, for me, was the best chapter in the book. Chapter 7, which tackles valve area computation, an important clinical aspect, was sadly all too brief and lacked illustrative examples. The layout of this second edition is similar to the first edition. I had thought that the first edition was an excellent book, but with this edition, the authors have made worthwhile revisions. The text in some of the chapters has been re-arranged to make it more logical. The book is highly readable and informative. The overall quality of the Doppler traces is excellent, although there are some older, poor quality traces, which should have been omitted. Each chapter contains more references than the previous edition and colour Doppler traces have been included. The writing is consistently good and is appealing both to a beginner as well as to an experienced physician. My only criticism of the book
0 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
122 is that congenital heart disease and colour flow mapping is not as well covered as it should have been. I was very impressed by this book. It is not comprehensive enough to be suitable as a reference book, but even the most experienced echocardiographer, technician or physician, will learn from it. It is a must for all the departmental libraries, but with 315 pages of readable text and well produced Doppler examples and at E30 cost, it is a bargain well worth having as a personal COPY. Shakeel A. Qureshi Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist
Guy’s Hospital London, U.K.
Clinical Skills in Medicine, 6th ed. Alan E. Read Butterworths
&
Co,
Ltd.,
London/
Boston/
Singapore, 1989; 252 pp.; E6.95 (paperback); O-7236-1163-7
ISBN
This small book is the direct successor to “The Clinical Apprentice” by John Naish, first published in 1948 and which ran to five subsequent editions. It is specifically aimed at medical students entering clinical medicine for the first time. It includes examination techniques for each of the major body systems together with special sections for the patient in coma and the elderly. In addition approximately one-third of the book is given over to brief descriptions of commonly used investigative techniques. Its virtues include its size (it will easily fit into the pocket of a white coat), brevity and clarity. Moreover, it is not written without humour. Diagrams are much in evidence throughout, and the tables and lists included are not too intimidating. The only minor criticism, apart from irritating typographical errors, would be that pathophysiological explanations of some physical signs are necessarily limited by the size of the book but, on occasion, may be too empirical. Overall “Clinical Skills in Medicine” probably succeeds in its attempt to be a rapid and easily assimilable guide to history taking and clinical examination for the medical student. It would make a good vademecum in the early stages, a task made easy by its size and weight. Its main competition in the U.K. are “Clinical Examination” (edited by MacCleod and Munro) and “Hutchinson’s Clinical Methods” (edited by Swash and Mason). Undoubtedly students should possess a book on clinical examination but the choice between the three is probably individual.
Dept. of Cardiology Brompton Hospital London. U.K.
John Hogan
Don’t Eat Your Heart Out Joseph C. Piscatella Thorsons Publishers Ltd., Wellingborough, 1989; 305 pp.; E5.99 (paperback); ISBN O-7225-1717-3 A popular book on the evergreen subject of diet and coronary disease, giving a patient’s eye view, as the author underwent bypass surgery himself. Its best feature is its bright, eye-catching title; otherwise the message is the same as received by coronary patients all over the world in the last 50 years: to reduce their intake of cholesterol, saturated fats, salts and sugar, and increase that of fruit, vegetable and fibre. The recommended fare is called “positive diet”! How that differs from “prudent diet”, is difficult to say. While the book is well written, it contains some annoying scientific baby-language. Is it really necessary for any public to refer to high-density lipoprotein as “good” cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein as “bad” cholesterol, venous blood as poor blood, oxygenated blood as rich blood? Also there seems to be some confusion about monosaccharides, like glucose and fructose, which are regarded as natural sugars, while the disaccharide sucrose is apparently the devil’s invention. In view of the fact that the digestive system wastes little time in breaking down sucrose to its constituents, glucose and fructose, wouldn’t it be better to say that the basic trouble with sugar is that it is an addictant? We tend to consume far too much of it and the excess does not do us any good, no matter what kind of sugar we eat. The book contains one welcome example to demonstrate that ideas originating later than the first half of this century are beginning to percolate into public awareness, The author mentions the fact that milk does not only contain saturated fats, but also more calcium than needed by adults. But then why does he recommend that the milk we buy should be reinforced with vitamin D? To ensure that the excess calcium finds its way without fail to the tissues that do not need them? And what is the advantage of an egg-substitute, consisting of egg-white and milk powder over a plain egg? Department of Cardiology University of Manchester Manchester, U.K.
Stephen Seely
CARD10
121
01002
Book Reviews Color Doppler Flow Imaging and Other Advances in Doppler Echocardiography
Doppler Echocardiography,
Editor:
Donnerstein Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, ISBN 0-8121-1106-O
J. Roelandt
Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht/ Boston/ Lancaster, 1986; 222 pp.; $86, &62; ISBN o-89838-806-6 This textbook sets out to provide the reader with an insight into the latest advances in the field of Doppler ultrasound and to a large extent it manages to achieve this. The title emphasising color Doppler flow imaging is somewhat of a misnomer in that color flow mapping comprises only a portion of the book’s content yet the other sections are in some ways more valuable. The other two broad areas dealt with are firstly the technical aspects and physical principles of Doppler ultrasound and secondly the clinical advances in Doppler echocardiography aside from those of color Doppler flow mapping. In fact the textbook is a compilation of manuscripts presented at an international echo/Doppler meeting yet the result is a very interesting and valuable textbook. The nature of the book makes it impossible to provide a comprehensive account on all aspects of Doppler ultrasound but those that are included are generally done well. Doppler ultrasound continues to be a rapidly advancing subspecialty and as such a book dealing with recent advances must become more quickly outdated. This is true particularly of the section on color Doppler flow mapping. Nevertheless, other parts of the book are unlikely to become outdated. The section dealing with technical aspects is an excellent one and the chapter dealing with the Bernoulli principle is a “must read” for anyone involved in the cardiac Doppler ultrasound. The book could easily be recommended for this section alone. This is not really a book for the beginner though they would undoubtedly benefit from many of the more fundamental chapters but it would certainly be a valuable addition to the library of anyone actively involved in cardiac Doppler ultrasound. Dept. of Cardiology St. George’s Hospital London, U.K.
0167-5273/90/$03.50
Iain A. Simpson
S.J.
Goldberg,
H.D.
Allen,
2nd ed. G.R. 1988;
Marx
and R.L.
315 pp.; ;E30;
Doppler echocardiography is now a firmly established non-invasive technique in the detection of heart disorders. This book goes a long way in making the understanding of Doppler ultrasound easy. It contains 7 chapters, all of which are well illustrated. It is written by authors, who are among the leaders in this field, and their knowledge and understanding of Doppler techniques and their ability to impart this to others is apparent all through the book. Chapter 1 presents a brief history of Doppler echocardiography. Chapter 2 deals with the basic Doppler physics. Despite the complex physics involved, this chapter is interesting and easy to understand. Chapter 3 contains detailed guidelines for performing a Doppler study, which are invaluable to a beginner as well as an experienced echocardiographer. Chapters 4 and 5 detail the theoretical aspects of turbulent flow, pressure drop calculation and computation of blood flows in various cardiac chambers. Chapter 6 highlights the clinical application of Doppler ultrasound and, for me, was the best chapter in the book. Chapter 7, which tackles valve area computation, an important clinical aspect, was sadly all too brief and lacked illustrative examples. The layout of this second edition is similar to the first edition. I had thought that the first edition was an excellent book, but with this edition, the authors have made worthwhile revisions. The text in some of the chapters has been re-arranged to make it more logical. The book is highly readable and informative. The overall quality of the Doppler traces is excellent, although there are some older, poor quality traces, which should have been omitted. Each chapter contains more references than the previous edition and colour Doppler traces have been included. The writing is consistently good and is appealing both to a beginner as well as to an experienced physician. My only criticism of the book
0 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
122 is that congenital heart disease and colour flow mapping is not as well covered as it should have been. I was very impressed by this book. It is not comprehensive enough to be suitable as a reference book, but even the most experienced echocardiographer, technician or physician, will learn from it. It is a must for all the departmental libraries, but with 315 pages of readable text and well produced Doppler examples and at E30 cost, it is a bargain well worth having as a personal COPY. Shakeel A. Qureshi Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist
Guy’s Hospital London, U.K.
Clinical Skills in Medicine, 6th ed. Alan E. Read Butterworths
&
Co,
Ltd.,
London/
Boston/
Singapore, 1989; 252 pp.; E6.95 (paperback); O-7236-1163-7
ISBN
This small book is the direct successor to “The Clinical Apprentice” by John Naish, first published in 1948 and which ran to five subsequent editions. It is specifically aimed at medical students entering clinical medicine for the first time. It includes examination techniques for each of the major body systems together with special sections for the patient in coma and the elderly. In addition approximately one-third of the book is given over to brief descriptions of commonly used investigative techniques. Its virtues include its size (it will easily fit into the pocket of a white coat), brevity and clarity. Moreover, it is not written without humour. Diagrams are much in evidence throughout, and the tables and lists included are not too intimidating. The only minor criticism, apart from irritating typographical errors, would be that pathophysiological explanations of some physical signs are necessarily limited by the size of the book but, on occasion, may be too empirical. Overall “Clinical Skills in Medicine” probably succeeds in its attempt to be a rapid and easily assimilable guide to history taking and clinical examination for the medical student. It would make a good vademecum in the early stages, a task made easy by its size and weight. Its main competition in the U.K. are “Clinical Examination” (edited by MacCleod and Munro) and “Hutchinson’s Clinical Methods” (edited by Swash and Mason). Undoubtedly students should possess a book on clinical examination but the choice between the three is probably individual.
Dept. of Cardiology Brompton Hospital London. U.K.
John Hogan
Don’t Eat Your Heart Out Joseph C. Piscatella Thorsons Publishers Ltd., Wellingborough, 1989; 305 pp.; E5.99 (paperback); ISBN O-7225-1717-3 A popular book on the evergreen subject of diet and coronary disease, giving a patient’s eye view, as the author underwent bypass surgery himself. Its best feature is its bright, eye-catching title; otherwise the message is the same as received by coronary patients all over the world in the last 50 years: to reduce their intake of cholesterol, saturated fats, salts and sugar, and increase that of fruit, vegetable and fibre. The recommended fare is called “positive diet”! How that differs from “prudent diet”, is difficult to say. While the book is well written, it contains some annoying scientific baby-language. Is it really necessary for any public to refer to high-density lipoprotein as “good” cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein as “bad” cholesterol, venous blood as poor blood, oxygenated blood as rich blood? Also there seems to be some confusion about monosaccharides, like glucose and fructose, which are regarded as natural sugars, while the disaccharide sucrose is apparently the devil’s invention. In view of the fact that the digestive system wastes little time in breaking down sucrose to its constituents, glucose and fructose, wouldn’t it be better to say that the basic trouble with sugar is that it is an addictant? We tend to consume far too much of it and the excess does not do us any good, no matter what kind of sugar we eat. The book contains one welcome example to demonstrate that ideas originating later than the first half of this century are beginning to percolate into public awareness, The author mentions the fact that milk does not only contain saturated fats, but also more calcium than needed by adults. But then why does he recommend that the milk we buy should be reinforced with vitamin D? To ensure that the excess calcium finds its way without fail to the tissues that do not need them? And what is the advantage of an egg-substitute, consisting of egg-white and milk powder over a plain egg? Department of Cardiology University of Manchester Manchester, U.K.
Stephen Seely