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Book Reviews
N o n i n v a s i v e D i a g n o s t i c T e c h n i q u e s in V a s c u l a r Disease. Second edition. E u g e n e Bernstein. 626 pp., 684 illustrations. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby, 1982.
book that has been one of the standards in this area for several years and will continue to serve as a valuable reference source for all physicians interested in this area. It can be recommended as an up-to-date, well written source book on this important subject.
The original edition of this work represented the proceedings of a symposium on noninvasive diagnostic techniques held in San Diego in 1977. This second edition, published 4 years later constitutes a major revision of that work. The text has been increased approximately 50% by the addition of 30 new chapters not included in the original edition. In addition to discussing new techniques developed since the first edition was published, this revision has allowed the editors to broadly update and revise the original volume to keep pace with this rapidly changing area. The book is divided into three parts. The initial section deals with fundamentals of measurement and principles of current instrumentation. The second section relates this technology to the clinical situation, and the final section attempts to provide an overview of the subject. Approximately onethird of the book is devoted to techniques for the detection and diagnosis of extracranial cerebrovascular arterial occlusive disease. All the standard, indirect techniques that were covered in the original volume are again presented. However, there has been marked expansion of the sections relating to the various imaging techniques in which there is presently so much interest. Although the original work suffered from many of the problems typical of multiauthored texts, especially those representing the proceedings of a symposium, the present edition has been largely reorganized to minimize this problem. Nevertheless, by separating the discussions of each instrument's biophysical principles and technical application and those relating to its clinical utilization into two sections, the book remains somewhat disjointed. In general, the overall layout of the book is excellent as is the quality of the illustrations and tables, including several color plates that are quite unusual for a text of this nature. The addition of several authors of international stature has introduced some excellent contributions not present in the previous edition, and the editors are to be further commended for their emphasis on the clinical application and cost effectiveness of various forms of noninvasive testing. Because the book is ostensibly devoted to noninvasive diagnostic modalities, the inclusion of several sections on various radionucleotide techniques, such as fibrinogen leg scanning and isotope venography, seems extraneous. On the other hand, the omission of any discussion of digital subtraction angiography and its impact on noninvasive cerebrovascular testing, particularly the various imaging techniques, is somewhat surprising. Furthermore, the technical application of various instruments and the interpretation of the resulting data is, in many cases, quite sketchy and would preclude use of this book as a manual to guide Vascular Laboratory technicians. The growing interest in noninvasive diagnostic techniques in vascular disease has been paralleled by several recent texts on the subject. The present volume is a major revision of a
R I C H A R D F. KEMPCZINSKI, M.D. J O H N M. TEW, JR., M.D. Cincinnati, Ohio
Disorders of the Cerebellum. C o n t e m p o r a r y N e u r o l o g y Series V o l u m e 21. Sid Gilman, J a m e s R. Bloedel, Richard Lechtenberg. 415 pp., 131 illustrations, $40.00 U.S., $48.00 Canada. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 1982.
Disorders of the Cerebellum is written by three distinguished students of the nervous system. The first six chapters (108 pages) are devoted to a comprehensive anatomic and physiologic review of the cerebellum. This material is presented well and in as interesting a fashion as possible. It provides the background for the next three chapters, which deal with postural regulation in animals, cerebeUar hypotonia and tremor, and cerebellar regulation of movement. These 50 pages form a transition to the clinical consideration ofcerebellar disorders. This material is also well done and important for appreciating the continuing text. In general, the clinical material is well done. The quality of the computed tomography scans is not good, the discussion of various surgical approaches to vascular and neoplastic disease is brief, but referenced so that the reader can probe further into the particular problem. A 20-page chapter is devoted to cerebellar stimulation, which seems somewhat long in view of its importance, but this is a minor criticism. In summary, this is a well-written, well-organized text that would be appropriate reading for a large group of interested individuals ranging from medical students to neurologists and neurosurgeons in practice. J O H N A. JANE, M.D. Charlottesville, Virginia
Modern Neurosurgery. V o l u m e 1. Mario Brock, editor. 484 pp. N e w Y o r k B e r l i n - H e i d e l b e r g : Springer-Verlag, 1982. This book is composed of a large number of papers selected from the more than 800 presented at the 7th International Congress of Neurological Surgery held in Munich, Germany in July 1981. These 55 articles have been carefully selected by the editor, Professor Brock, and represent the outstanding new and innovative material presented at that Congress. The papers have been grouped into several categories: Technical Developments, Head Injury and Intensive Care, Surgery of