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An introduction to neurosurgery
126
An Introduction to Neurosurgery, 3rd e d i t i o n , by B. J e n n e t t ,
xviii +
366 pages,
W i l l i a m H e i n e m a n n , M e d i c a l B o o k s , Ltd., L o n d o n , 1977, £ 9.95. it is a pleasure to see a third edition of Professor Jennett's book which in fact is only forty pages longer than the first edition. It is undoubtedly the best book on the subject for embryo neurosurgeons and neurologists, and nurses who have decided to make neurosurgical nursing their career will also find it very helpful. This edition reflects the partial demise of stereotactic surgery but pays due respect to the CT scan and the problem of brain death. The illustrations are excellent. Any neurosurgeon can find minor points to quibble over: perhaps Professor Jennett is rather too enthusiastic about chemotherapy for gliomas and where the CT scan is available, barium should not be put in a brain abscess cavity. "Ihe next edition will no doubt mention metrizamide myelography which has greatly improved the radiology of the spinal canal. The reviewer can thoroughly recommend this new edition. C. B. T. Adams
Brain Blood Supply, by G . I. M c h e d l i s h v i l i , A. G. B. K o v a c h a n d I. N y a r y (Eds.), 319 pages, i l l u s t r a t e d , A k a d 6 m i a i K i a d 6 , B u d a p e s t , 1977, U S $ 1 8 . 0 0 . This book is a report of the proceedings of the 3rd Tbilisi Symposium on the Cerebral Circulation in 1974. Many of the contributors come from the U.S.S.R. especially from the considerable neurological centre in Tbilisi itself. Other contributors are from other countries associated with the U.S.S.R. and there are also some well known names from the U.S.A., Germany, and Sweden. Discussion is given in detail. The translation is good and the production reasonably clear. Any difficulties there may be are those inherent in this type of book, that in a rapidly developing field some of the papers given in 1974 are losing their impact, and as a reference book it is not easy to find relevant information. J. M. K. Spalding
Dopamin - - Grundlagen und bisherige klinische Erfahrungen vor allem in der Intensivmedizin (2. Z i i r c h e r A n a e s t h e s i e - F o r t b i l d u n g s k u r s , A p r i l 1976) ( I n t e n s i v m e d i z i n , N o t f a l l s m e d i z i n , A n a e s t h e s i o l o g i e , V o l . 4), by G . H o s s l i , R. G a t t i k e r , a n d G. H a l d e m a n n (Eds.), xi + 119 pages, 83 i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 21 tables, G e o r g T h i e m e V e r l a g , S t u t t g a r t , 1977, D M 19.80. The great impulse given to the study of central dopaminergic mechanisms that followed the discoveries of Hornykiewicz has overshadowed the exploration of dopamine in peripheral tissues. In contrast to the brain, where L-dOpa has to be used in therapy, owing to the lack of penetration by dopamine of the blood-brain barrier, administered dopamine readily exerts its actions in peripheral tissues. The present volume testifies to a re-awakening of the concern with dopamine as a therapeutic agent. (The volume covers ground similar to that contained in Supplement 2 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 70, 1977). The papers it contains are strictly confined to practical considerations; experiences gained by infusions of dopamine in cases of severe shock are described. These reports, from Germany and Switzerland, will be read with great interest. A careful description of therapeutic successes and failures such as is here presented is what is needed at the present time. There have been many attempts to account for the effects of dopamine on the blood supply of different organs but a full understanding of the way in which dopamine differs specifically from the other two catecholamines, adrenaline and noradrenaline, has not yet been attained. What is of particular interest to the neurologist in these accounts is that observers are agreed upon the presence of specific receptors for dopamine, characteristically different from other adrenoceptors. This might be taken to imply the presence of dopaminergic neurones in the periphery. At any
An Introduction to Neurosurgery, 3rd e d i t i o n , by B. J e n n e t t ,
xviii +
366 pages,
W i l l i a m H e i n e m a n n , M e d i c a l B o o k s , Ltd., L o n d o n , 1977, £ 9.95. it is a pleasure to see a third edition of Professor Jennett's book which in fact is only forty pages longer than the first edition. It is undoubtedly the best book on the subject for embryo neurosurgeons and neurologists, and nurses who have decided to make neurosurgical nursing their career will also find it very helpful. This edition reflects the partial demise of stereotactic surgery but pays due respect to the CT scan and the problem of brain death. The illustrations are excellent. Any neurosurgeon can find minor points to quibble over: perhaps Professor Jennett is rather too enthusiastic about chemotherapy for gliomas and where the CT scan is available, barium should not be put in a brain abscess cavity. "Ihe next edition will no doubt mention metrizamide myelography which has greatly improved the radiology of the spinal canal. The reviewer can thoroughly recommend this new edition. C. B. T. Adams
Brain Blood Supply, by G . I. M c h e d l i s h v i l i , A. G. B. K o v a c h a n d I. N y a r y (Eds.), 319 pages, i l l u s t r a t e d , A k a d 6 m i a i K i a d 6 , B u d a p e s t , 1977, U S $ 1 8 . 0 0 . This book is a report of the proceedings of the 3rd Tbilisi Symposium on the Cerebral Circulation in 1974. Many of the contributors come from the U.S.S.R. especially from the considerable neurological centre in Tbilisi itself. Other contributors are from other countries associated with the U.S.S.R. and there are also some well known names from the U.S.A., Germany, and Sweden. Discussion is given in detail. The translation is good and the production reasonably clear. Any difficulties there may be are those inherent in this type of book, that in a rapidly developing field some of the papers given in 1974 are losing their impact, and as a reference book it is not easy to find relevant information. J. M. K. Spalding
Dopamin - - Grundlagen und bisherige klinische Erfahrungen vor allem in der Intensivmedizin (2. Z i i r c h e r A n a e s t h e s i e - F o r t b i l d u n g s k u r s , A p r i l 1976) ( I n t e n s i v m e d i z i n , N o t f a l l s m e d i z i n , A n a e s t h e s i o l o g i e , V o l . 4), by G . H o s s l i , R. G a t t i k e r , a n d G. H a l d e m a n n (Eds.), xi + 119 pages, 83 i l l u s t r a t i o n s , 21 tables, G e o r g T h i e m e V e r l a g , S t u t t g a r t , 1977, D M 19.80. The great impulse given to the study of central dopaminergic mechanisms that followed the discoveries of Hornykiewicz has overshadowed the exploration of dopamine in peripheral tissues. In contrast to the brain, where L-dOpa has to be used in therapy, owing to the lack of penetration by dopamine of the blood-brain barrier, administered dopamine readily exerts its actions in peripheral tissues. The present volume testifies to a re-awakening of the concern with dopamine as a therapeutic agent. (The volume covers ground similar to that contained in Supplement 2 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 70, 1977). The papers it contains are strictly confined to practical considerations; experiences gained by infusions of dopamine in cases of severe shock are described. These reports, from Germany and Switzerland, will be read with great interest. A careful description of therapeutic successes and failures such as is here presented is what is needed at the present time. There have been many attempts to account for the effects of dopamine on the blood supply of different organs but a full understanding of the way in which dopamine differs specifically from the other two catecholamines, adrenaline and noradrenaline, has not yet been attained. What is of particular interest to the neurologist in these accounts is that observers are agreed upon the presence of specific receptors for dopamine, characteristically different from other adrenoceptors. This might be taken to imply the presence of dopaminergic neurones in the periphery. At any