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Heart disease
Book reviews
Ultrasonic Techniques in Angiology. By D. E. Strandness, Jr., M.D., and D. S. Sumner, M.D., Vienna, 1975, Hans Huber Publishers, 146 pages. This small paperback describes the standard methods and technics used in ultrasonic clinical angiology. Technology and apparatus are described. It is obvious that the skill of the operator is most important. The authors describe the application of ultrasonic diagnostic procedures for the study of the arterial and venous systems to detect thrombolic lesions, changes in the rates of arterial and venous blood flow, and even abnormal function of venous valves. The velocity detector, for example, can be used to locate the sites of arterial and venous occlusion in large and medium-size vessels. The method employed with the velocity detector is described. The detector already has use in clinical practice and will be further developed as experience with it and the apparatus is improved. This is a very useful book. It should interest cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and those interested in the peripheral circulation. This book is well written and is practical.
sions. Readers will find the manual useful. Readers should review vector mathematics and electrophysiology in order to use this manual properly. The authors use abbreviations excessively throughout, which tends to delay learning and cause confusion.
Actualites Cardio-vasculaires: Medico-Chirurgicales. Edited by A. Gonin, P. Michaud, A. Perrin, and J. Descotes, Paris, 1975, Masson & Cie, Editeurs, 216 pages. This book in French on angina pectoris reviews the medical and surgical management of ischemic heart disease due primarily to arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries. The concepts reflect mainly French and Canadian studies and practices. The views on medical and surgical management are clearly indicated and are compared with t h a t of the rest of the world. This reviewer finds the concepts, results, and opinions to be essentially the same as that from other affluent nations. This book is well organized and well written. It is a good book for a review of angina pectoris.
The Peripheral Arterial Chemoreceptors. Edited by M. J. Purves, London, 1975, Cambridge University Press, 492 pages. Price $39.50.
Heart Disease. Edited by Earl N. Silber, M.D., and Louis N. Katz, M.D., New York, 1975, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1,430 pages.
This book contains the papers and discussions presented at an international workshop held in Bristol in 1973. The importance of peripheral arterial chemoreceptors is well known. Recent interest in these and related chemoreceptors has increased considerably and the advances in knowledge have been great. The publications have been too numerous for anyone to follow closely. This book summarizes the present state of knowledge in many short papers by many internationally well-known contributors. Sections include discussions of ultrastructure of cells concerned with chemoreception, histochemistry and neurophysiology of the carotid body, reflex pathways and chemoreflexes and their metabolic activity. The discussions are, as usual, very provocative. The book should interest physiologists and pharmacologists, whereas cardiologists and other clinicians who have not followed the subject closely will find the presentations difficult to understand but important to know in order to appreciate fully the physiology of the circulation. This is an important and good publication.
This i s an excellent textbook of cardiology. Silber has written practically the entire book himself. The number of contributors is small. It is written for the practicing clinician. The physiologic, pathologic, and electrocardiographic aspects. of cardiology are presented from the clinical points of view. The section on heart disease is clinically oriented. The book is organized for the physician and in the usual fashion found in textbooks in medicine. The bibliographies are well chosen. This is a very good textbook of cardiology, It is easy to read and quite encyclopedic. Unfortunately, Dr. Louis Katz is not alive to see the completed book.
Vectorcardiography. 2nd edition. By Louis Lemberg, M.D., and Agustin Castellanos, Jr., M.D., New York, 1975, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 260 pages. Price $16.00 This second edition on vectorcardiography is essentially a self-teaching manual. The reader is expected to learn the fundamentals of clinical vectorcardiography by careful study of simple diagrams and recordings of the vectorcardiogram and electrocardiogram: This approach is a good one, but the reader is warned to read this manual carefully because of careless writing. For example, at the outset on page 1 the authors state that the sense of a vector is defined by the direction in which it points. This is so, but on page 2 they say the head is positive and the tail is negative. This is not so under all circumstances, for both the tail and head can be either negative at the same time or positive at the same time. This example and other statements are not correct or clearly indicated. Oversimplification can lead to erroneous discus-
542
Drugs in Cardiology, Part 1. Edited by Ephraim Donoso, M.D., New York, 1975, Stratton Intercontinental Medical Book Corporation, 239 pages. Price $24.75. This is a practical clinical publication on the common drugs for therapeutic problems in cardiology. The thirty contributors are in the practice of cardiology and are therefore aware of the indications and contraindications of drugs in management of various heart diseases. The various discussions include procainamide, quinidine, lidocaine, and other antiarrhythmic agents. Atropine, nitrites, beta-blocking agents are among the many other drugs discussed. The indications, dosage, and other therapeutic principles are reviewed. This book should interest all doctors, but especially general practitioners and internists. The book is worth owning for study and reference.
The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics. Edited by Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman, New York, 1975, MacMillan Publishing Company, Inc., 1618 pages. Price $30.00. The fifth edition of Goodman and Gilman's book, "The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics," is still a great text. This publication is authoritative and a classic. The authors keep it up to date. This edition continues to be clearly written, comprehensive, and is an excellent source of extremely useful
April, 1976, Vol. 91, No. 4
Ultrasonic Techniques in Angiology. By D. E. Strandness, Jr., M.D., and D. S. Sumner, M.D., Vienna, 1975, Hans Huber Publishers, 146 pages. This small paperback describes the standard methods and technics used in ultrasonic clinical angiology. Technology and apparatus are described. It is obvious that the skill of the operator is most important. The authors describe the application of ultrasonic diagnostic procedures for the study of the arterial and venous systems to detect thrombolic lesions, changes in the rates of arterial and venous blood flow, and even abnormal function of venous valves. The velocity detector, for example, can be used to locate the sites of arterial and venous occlusion in large and medium-size vessels. The method employed with the velocity detector is described. The detector already has use in clinical practice and will be further developed as experience with it and the apparatus is improved. This is a very useful book. It should interest cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and those interested in the peripheral circulation. This book is well written and is practical.
sions. Readers will find the manual useful. Readers should review vector mathematics and electrophysiology in order to use this manual properly. The authors use abbreviations excessively throughout, which tends to delay learning and cause confusion.
Actualites Cardio-vasculaires: Medico-Chirurgicales. Edited by A. Gonin, P. Michaud, A. Perrin, and J. Descotes, Paris, 1975, Masson & Cie, Editeurs, 216 pages. This book in French on angina pectoris reviews the medical and surgical management of ischemic heart disease due primarily to arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries. The concepts reflect mainly French and Canadian studies and practices. The views on medical and surgical management are clearly indicated and are compared with t h a t of the rest of the world. This reviewer finds the concepts, results, and opinions to be essentially the same as that from other affluent nations. This book is well organized and well written. It is a good book for a review of angina pectoris.
The Peripheral Arterial Chemoreceptors. Edited by M. J. Purves, London, 1975, Cambridge University Press, 492 pages. Price $39.50.
Heart Disease. Edited by Earl N. Silber, M.D., and Louis N. Katz, M.D., New York, 1975, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1,430 pages.
This book contains the papers and discussions presented at an international workshop held in Bristol in 1973. The importance of peripheral arterial chemoreceptors is well known. Recent interest in these and related chemoreceptors has increased considerably and the advances in knowledge have been great. The publications have been too numerous for anyone to follow closely. This book summarizes the present state of knowledge in many short papers by many internationally well-known contributors. Sections include discussions of ultrastructure of cells concerned with chemoreception, histochemistry and neurophysiology of the carotid body, reflex pathways and chemoreflexes and their metabolic activity. The discussions are, as usual, very provocative. The book should interest physiologists and pharmacologists, whereas cardiologists and other clinicians who have not followed the subject closely will find the presentations difficult to understand but important to know in order to appreciate fully the physiology of the circulation. This is an important and good publication.
This i s an excellent textbook of cardiology. Silber has written practically the entire book himself. The number of contributors is small. It is written for the practicing clinician. The physiologic, pathologic, and electrocardiographic aspects. of cardiology are presented from the clinical points of view. The section on heart disease is clinically oriented. The book is organized for the physician and in the usual fashion found in textbooks in medicine. The bibliographies are well chosen. This is a very good textbook of cardiology, It is easy to read and quite encyclopedic. Unfortunately, Dr. Louis Katz is not alive to see the completed book.
Vectorcardiography. 2nd edition. By Louis Lemberg, M.D., and Agustin Castellanos, Jr., M.D., New York, 1975, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 260 pages. Price $16.00 This second edition on vectorcardiography is essentially a self-teaching manual. The reader is expected to learn the fundamentals of clinical vectorcardiography by careful study of simple diagrams and recordings of the vectorcardiogram and electrocardiogram: This approach is a good one, but the reader is warned to read this manual carefully because of careless writing. For example, at the outset on page 1 the authors state that the sense of a vector is defined by the direction in which it points. This is so, but on page 2 they say the head is positive and the tail is negative. This is not so under all circumstances, for both the tail and head can be either negative at the same time or positive at the same time. This example and other statements are not correct or clearly indicated. Oversimplification can lead to erroneous discus-
542
Drugs in Cardiology, Part 1. Edited by Ephraim Donoso, M.D., New York, 1975, Stratton Intercontinental Medical Book Corporation, 239 pages. Price $24.75. This is a practical clinical publication on the common drugs for therapeutic problems in cardiology. The thirty contributors are in the practice of cardiology and are therefore aware of the indications and contraindications of drugs in management of various heart diseases. The various discussions include procainamide, quinidine, lidocaine, and other antiarrhythmic agents. Atropine, nitrites, beta-blocking agents are among the many other drugs discussed. The indications, dosage, and other therapeutic principles are reviewed. This book should interest all doctors, but especially general practitioners and internists. The book is worth owning for study and reference.
The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics. Edited by Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman, New York, 1975, MacMillan Publishing Company, Inc., 1618 pages. Price $30.00. The fifth edition of Goodman and Gilman's book, "The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics," is still a great text. This publication is authoritative and a classic. The authors keep it up to date. This edition continues to be clearly written, comprehensive, and is an excellent source of extremely useful
April, 1976, Vol. 91, No. 4