Book reviews
Symposium
on
Myocardial
Association Monograph, Heart Association, New
Metabolism, An American Heart Number 44, Eugene Braunwald, York, 1974, 215 pp.
This symposium on myocardial metabolism briefly describes very well the state of knowledge of metabolism of heart muscle. It is the heart muscle which is responsible for the pumping of blood. Its energy and function depends upon the state of myocardial metabolism. The metabolic problems discussed are fairly extensive. The contributors am experts in their respective fields. This publication should interest physiologists, biochemists, and those directly concerned with heart muscle energetics and metabolism. The symposium clearly indicates the extensive gaps in knowledge of heart muscle metabolism in health and in disease. Vectorcardiography-Self-Assessment.
Chung, M.D., Hagemtown, Publishers, 114 pp.
Maryland,
By Edward K. 1974, Harper & Row,
Chung has gathered 100 fairly common electrocardiograms and vectorcardiograms for readers to study, learn, and to assess their knowledge of vectorcardiography. The vectorcardiograms were all recorded by the Frank reference system of lead placement. Many readers, of course, will have their reservations concerning the practicability of this method of lead placement in daily practice. Regardless, the recorded vectorcardiograms are sufficiently representative to be useful to those who employ other lead systems. The Frank system
280
tends to smooth out the vectorcardiographic complexes and thereby fails to reflect high frequency components of the vectorcardiogram. The author rightly emphasized the importance and need to interpret the vectorcardiogram with the electrocardiogram. The book provides a good review of clinical vectorcardiography, and it is recommended for study. This is a good book. Differential
Diagnosis
of the
Electrocardiogram.
By Sidney R. Arbeit, Ira L. Rubin, phia, 1975, F. A. Davis Company,
and Harry 218 pages.
2nd edition. Gross, PhiladelPrice $17.50.
This is a training manual. The subject of electrocardiography is presented in a simplified manner with the support of numerous diagrams and electrocardiograms. Methods of analyzing electrocardiograms for arrhythmias and interpreting tracings from disturbances in wave form are discussed in a simple fashion and at times in an arbitrary manner found to be useful by the authors as well as others. The reader must study and learn the electrophysiologic principles to understand why this simple approach to the interpretation of electrocardiograms actually works. This point is well illustrated by Figures 2 and 3. However, to understand electrocardiography, an adequate knowledge of electrophysiology is essential. The approach to teaching the reader to interpret electrocardiograms is good. This book is recommended to all physicians who interpret tracings. Beginners in particular will find the book most useful.
August,
1975, Vol. 90, No. 2