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BOOK REVIEWS

Fitting Guide for Hard and Soft Contact Lenses A Practical Approach, by Harold Stein and Ber-

nard Slatt. St. Louis, C. V. Mosby, 1977, 329 pp. Price: $24.95 I have previously commented on Contact Lens Practice, by Montague Ruben, and Contact Lenses and Cornea1 Disease, by A. Gasset. The first was overly sophisticated and basically oriented, and the second too limited to be of major use to most ophthalmologists fitting contact lenses. Drs. Stein and Slatt have, however, culled the material of most practical importance without oversimplifying. Their book is a guide to the clinician for the choice, fitting, evaluation, and adjustment of the hard and soft lenses currently in use. Rather than describe a single “best” method of lens fitting, as many others have, this book states fairly the details and uses of most of the major hard lens systems and evaluates their pros and cons. At least eight different types of soft lenses are discussed in detail, as are the approaches to lens ordering systems, patient education, patient evaluation and selection and problem solving. Special lens uses (e.g., keratoconus, bifocal lenses, aphakia, and prolonged wear) are reasonably covered. Photos and diagrams are used extensively and well. An appendix of useful tables completes the volume. A minor fault is a lack of specific references, but a bibliography is included. In all, this is a highly practical, affordable text that will be welcomed by those learning and practicing the fitting of contact lenses. ALAN SUGAR

Ocular Therapeutics

and Pharmacology,

5th ed, by

Philip P. Ellis. St. Loub, C. V. Mosby, 1977, 283 pp. Price: $19.50 “In this edition, an effort has been made to continue the fundamental purpose of the book; that is, to present in a concise form the basic considerations of current ocular therapy and pharmacology.” This opening sentence of the Preface is an accurate description of what the reader will find in Ellis’ latest edition of Ocular Therapeutics and PharmacoloPv. It is a book written for those who want to know, and are willing to accept the views of an authority in ocular pharmacology. The author makes little attempt to present in-depth discussions that rely on extensive citing of references. Those references that are cited are placed at the end of each chanter. Their value is diminished because they ard not referred to by author or number within the text. Information about drugs is given using three different classifications: ocular pharmacology, ocular therapeutics, and generic names grouped by drug class. In the section on therapeutics, the chapters are arranged by disease (e.g. Therapy of Glaucomas) and by tissue (e.g. Therapy of Diseases of the Eyelids).

This book succeeds admirably if the reader remembers that, to quote the Preface of the first edition, “It is not intended to be a textbook of therapeutics and pharmacology, nor is it meant to serve as a review of all types of treatment and ocular medications. . . . It was written to serve as a reference for the busy practicing quick ophthalmologist who may have forgotten a specific dose or side reaction of a certain medication”. JOEL S. MINDEL Microsurgery Vol II: The

of the Anterior Segment of the Eye, Cornea Optics and Surgery, by

Richard C. Troutman. St. Louis, C.V. Mosby, 1977, 357 pp., 396 illus. Price: $47.50 Richard Troutman has been an ardent popularizer in this country of the microsurgical techniques developed in Europe by Mackensen, Barraquer, and others, over a decade ago. The first volume of this combined atlas and text, published in 1974, presented the basic instrumentation and techniques of intraocular surgery (the terms intraocular surgery and microsurgery should be synonymous by now to the most recent generations of ophthalmologists) in useful, if somewhat dogmatic, terms. The scope of the second volume is more limited, describing lamellar and penetrating keratoplasty and their variations. The emphasis is very strongly on the control of refractive error, particularly astigmatism; the chief means to this end is the use of the surgical keratometer. The basic steps of routine and complicated keratoplasty are illustrated in considerable detail. Excellent drawings bv Virninia Cantarella cover as much page spa’ce as does the text. Dr. Troutman’s technique of wedge resection of the cornea to treat residual postoperative astigmatism is also thoughly discussed and illustrated. Though less useful than Volume I for the beginning “microsurgeon,” this book contains information of interest to both novice and experienced corneal surgeons. It deserves a place in most Ophthalmology Department libraries. ALAN SUGAR

Second International Visual Field Symposium Tubingen 1976, Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, edited by E. L. Greve. ne

Hague. Dr. W. Junk by Publishers. 1977,479 pp., illus Price s65 25 ’ ’ * This superb book is a collection of papers presented at a symposium in September, 1976. The symposium was broadly international with authors from Canada, several European countries, Japan and the United States participating. The book is divided into eight chapters that clearly and precisely present an overview of, as well as abundant detail about, the current clinical and scientific investigation in the field of perimetry here and