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Cardiac and vascular disorders. Differential diagnosis by new physiologic techniques
Book Reviews Normaler und bober Blutdruck und Kardiovaskulare Mortalitat bei verscbiedenen Vockern by R. Stigler. Steinkopff, Darmstadt, 1965, pp. 294, DM 98.
action,” which seems out of place \vhrn applied to arteries. A circumlocution or free translation would have been preferable. A few spelling errors are present, for example, “catachrotic” Ior “catacrotic” and “Kapposi” for “Kaposi.” Other expressions are not current in this country: for example. ‘.istbmus stenosis” instead of “coarctation.“ The statement that an altered peripheral pulse has diagnostic value for the recognition of either cerebral or coronary arteriosclerosis cannot be accepted. Arteriosclerosis may typically alter the circulation of certain organs and not of others. The observation that a pulse deficit (irregular heart contraction giving no peripheral pulse) is a definite evidence of heart failure cannot be accepted, especially when applied to ectopic beats. Obviously, the interval between normal and ectopic beats has the greatest importance. Moreover, the actual fact is a ‘iloss” of the pulse whenever such pulse is demonstrated in the carotid artery and not in the finger (such demonstration is not given), while the author uses the term “blocked“ \vbicb ma)- refer only to local obstruction of flow. The statement that right ventricular failure with atria1 fibrillation does not cause pulse deficit while left ventricular failure does would require better documentation for being accepted. The over-all impression that one gains from reading this book is that it brings with it a ~‘whiff’” of the past. The nearly exclusive limitation of the literature to that of German language is another weakness of the book. A. A. LUISADA. M.D.
This book, a review of the international literature on this topic, is of considerable value in its anthropologic and historical aspects, especially since the different publications and dates are widely scattered in the literature of many countries and is difficult to get in many colleges. Different somatic influences on the blood pressure, weight and nourishment are discussed as well as some aspects of environment, age, sex, etc. Of course, the North American and European dates abundantly are reproduced. But, even more value is attached to the reprints of Japan, China, Tibet, Siam, Annam, Central and Northern Asia, India, Arabia, Egypt, Polynesia, Malaya, Iberoamerica and finally of Africa. To the African data the author of the book could add his own measurements and observations in Uganda. The pressure results are related to life-expectancy. In a special chapter the consequences of vasomotor excitability are discussed. The schedules are explained in German, but are easily understood without any knowledge of the German language. They contain useful information and text. The bibliography containes 531 references. H. W. KNIPPING Cardiac and Vascular Disorders. Differential Diagnosis by New Physiologic Techniques, ed. 2, by Prof. Dr. R. VOELKER. Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Ill.. 1965, pp. 236, $11.50.
Pulmonary
This small monograph, translated from German by H. Mayer, follows the first edition of 1957. The title seems to be inappropriate because it should place emphasis on “methods,” not on “differential diagnosis.” However, the book deals with only a few methods: peripheral photoelectric plethysmograpby (for which no technical details are given), photoelectric oxymetry, and electric thermometry. They are employed in a number of normal subjects and a variety of clinical conditions, and the changes occurring during the rebreatbing test and the hypoxia test are described in detail. The illustrations are good but consist largely of schemes reproducing the pattern of the peripheral pulse. A comparison between “central” and peripheral pulse would have presented a greater interest. It is a pity that some untranslatable German expressions have been literally transferred into English, even though with explanatory notes. For example, Windkesselfunktion cannot be equated with “air chamber
HARA,
edited by A. H. SASAGrune and Stratton, 1965, pp. 312, $14.50. Embolic
Disease,
M.D. and M. STEIN, M.D.
New York,
The disparity between the clinical recognition of pulmonary embolic disease and the pathologic demonstration of its frequency is well recognized. Recently it has been shown that only 50 per cent of cases of pulmonary embolism are diagnosed clinically. Yet in most hospitals it constitutes a major cause of death. It is for this reason that a Symposium on Pulmonary Embolic Disease was conceived and organized under the auspices of the Veterans Administration and the \‘.A. Hospital in West Roxbury, Mass. The Symposium was held in Boston on May 22 and 23, 1964. Forty-three outstanding investigators and clinicians participated in the discussion of some of the more recent data on experimental and clinical thromboembolism. The presentations and discussions by the audience were so excellent and the requests for a published volume on the findings so insistent that it 140
THE
AMERICANJOURNAL
OF CARDIOLOGY
action,” which seems out of place \vhrn applied to arteries. A circumlocution or free translation would have been preferable. A few spelling errors are present, for example, “catachrotic” Ior “catacrotic” and “Kapposi” for “Kaposi.” Other expressions are not current in this country: for example. ‘.istbmus stenosis” instead of “coarctation.“ The statement that an altered peripheral pulse has diagnostic value for the recognition of either cerebral or coronary arteriosclerosis cannot be accepted. Arteriosclerosis may typically alter the circulation of certain organs and not of others. The observation that a pulse deficit (irregular heart contraction giving no peripheral pulse) is a definite evidence of heart failure cannot be accepted, especially when applied to ectopic beats. Obviously, the interval between normal and ectopic beats has the greatest importance. Moreover, the actual fact is a ‘iloss” of the pulse whenever such pulse is demonstrated in the carotid artery and not in the finger (such demonstration is not given), while the author uses the term “blocked“ \vbicb ma)- refer only to local obstruction of flow. The statement that right ventricular failure with atria1 fibrillation does not cause pulse deficit while left ventricular failure does would require better documentation for being accepted. The over-all impression that one gains from reading this book is that it brings with it a ~‘whiff’” of the past. The nearly exclusive limitation of the literature to that of German language is another weakness of the book. A. A. LUISADA. M.D.
This book, a review of the international literature on this topic, is of considerable value in its anthropologic and historical aspects, especially since the different publications and dates are widely scattered in the literature of many countries and is difficult to get in many colleges. Different somatic influences on the blood pressure, weight and nourishment are discussed as well as some aspects of environment, age, sex, etc. Of course, the North American and European dates abundantly are reproduced. But, even more value is attached to the reprints of Japan, China, Tibet, Siam, Annam, Central and Northern Asia, India, Arabia, Egypt, Polynesia, Malaya, Iberoamerica and finally of Africa. To the African data the author of the book could add his own measurements and observations in Uganda. The pressure results are related to life-expectancy. In a special chapter the consequences of vasomotor excitability are discussed. The schedules are explained in German, but are easily understood without any knowledge of the German language. They contain useful information and text. The bibliography containes 531 references. H. W. KNIPPING Cardiac and Vascular Disorders. Differential Diagnosis by New Physiologic Techniques, ed. 2, by Prof. Dr. R. VOELKER. Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Ill.. 1965, pp. 236, $11.50.
Pulmonary
This small monograph, translated from German by H. Mayer, follows the first edition of 1957. The title seems to be inappropriate because it should place emphasis on “methods,” not on “differential diagnosis.” However, the book deals with only a few methods: peripheral photoelectric plethysmograpby (for which no technical details are given), photoelectric oxymetry, and electric thermometry. They are employed in a number of normal subjects and a variety of clinical conditions, and the changes occurring during the rebreatbing test and the hypoxia test are described in detail. The illustrations are good but consist largely of schemes reproducing the pattern of the peripheral pulse. A comparison between “central” and peripheral pulse would have presented a greater interest. It is a pity that some untranslatable German expressions have been literally transferred into English, even though with explanatory notes. For example, Windkesselfunktion cannot be equated with “air chamber
HARA,
edited by A. H. SASAGrune and Stratton, 1965, pp. 312, $14.50. Embolic
Disease,
M.D. and M. STEIN, M.D.
New York,
The disparity between the clinical recognition of pulmonary embolic disease and the pathologic demonstration of its frequency is well recognized. Recently it has been shown that only 50 per cent of cases of pulmonary embolism are diagnosed clinically. Yet in most hospitals it constitutes a major cause of death. It is for this reason that a Symposium on Pulmonary Embolic Disease was conceived and organized under the auspices of the Veterans Administration and the \‘.A. Hospital in West Roxbury, Mass. The Symposium was held in Boston on May 22 and 23, 1964. Forty-three outstanding investigators and clinicians participated in the discussion of some of the more recent data on experimental and clinical thromboembolism. The presentations and discussions by the audience were so excellent and the requests for a published volume on the findings so insistent that it 140
THE
AMERICANJOURNAL
OF CARDIOLOGY