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Disorders of the heart and circulation
322
AMERICAA’
HE.4RT
JOURNr\l,
While I emphatically champion candor and honesty irk physician-patient relationship, it does appear to me that the problem of how much a given patient should know about his condition and how that knowledge should be presented to him is one of the line points of the practice of medicine which cannot be replaced by routine publicatioos. The real value of a book such as the present. volume must be determined practically after it has been placed in the hands of carefully selected patients.
J.J. DISORDERS Book),
OF THE HEART AND CIRCULATIOE. Baltimore, 1951. Williams & Wilkins
By Robert Company,
Levy, M.D. (Ed.) (Nelson 942 pages. Price $12.00.
Medical
This book is printed on excellent paper and has unusually clear print. It consists of a series of monographs by various authors, rather than a highly integrated textbook. The authors have been carefully selected and most of the chapters are good. It is a book which everyone with a special interest in cardiology will want to read. However, physicians with more general interests may have some difficulty in locating pertinent material, as it may be found in any one of several chapters and be omitted from chapters where one might expect to find it. The index is excellent and should help overcome this problem. It is more difficult for the student who wishes to get a In contradistinction to this, there is also considerable complete concept of a subject in one area. overlapping in some areas as in the chapters, Coronary Heart Disease, Coronary Insufficiency, and Surgical Treatment of .4ngina Pectoris. Each author expresses his own opinion and no attempt is made to reconcile differences. This may confuse the student but the varied concepts so forcefully presented will be enjoyed by the experienced and critical cardiologist. An unusually long and detailed presentation on prevalence of heart disease will be of value to those working in organizations which have to present the problem to laymen. The chapter on pericardial disease is well written and unusually complete. Too little is said about “acute nonspecific pericarditis,” which is of great importance in the differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The chapter on congenital heart disease is not of much practical value and was left in, as the This is more than compensated for by Bing’s excellent presauthor says, for sentimental reasons. entation in the next chapter. The discussion of rheumatic fever is good, but there are some omissions. The selection of cases for treatment with radioactive iodine needs attention; there should also be a critical analysis of the value of ACTH and cortisone, on the length of time for bed rest and the criteria for getting up, and finally, on sulfadiazine and penicillin prophylaxis. Acute bacterial endocarditis and subacute bacterial endocarditis are not separated sufficiently. The section on treatment of the latter is quite good. The chapter on management of hypertension (general management) is good. Management of Myocardial Infarction is an excellent chapter, especially the practical advice to the patient with a healed infarct. This author is inclined to agree with the opinion on bed rest in patients with myocardial infarction expressed by Dr. Levy. The chapter on physiology is well done by an outstanding authority. One would like to see this expanded. This should either be eliminated Too little space is devoted to peripheral vascular disease. or increased. A section on the differential diagnosis of chest pain by Harrison would be valuable. Harrison’s section on heart failure presents primarily one concept rather than comparing both concepts of pathogenesis. A. 1. M. SPATIAL VECTORCARDIOGRAPHY. By A. Grishman, and London, 1952, W. B. Saunders Company,
M.D., and L. Scherlis, 217 pages. Price $6.00.
M.D.
Philadelphia
The fundamental electrophysiologic principles and the technique of derivation are clearly and concisely treated by the authors in the early chapters of the book. The study of the process of ventricular activation which is so important for vectorcardiographic interpretation is only superficially analyzed.
AMERICAA’
HE.4RT
JOURNr\l,
While I emphatically champion candor and honesty irk physician-patient relationship, it does appear to me that the problem of how much a given patient should know about his condition and how that knowledge should be presented to him is one of the line points of the practice of medicine which cannot be replaced by routine publicatioos. The real value of a book such as the present. volume must be determined practically after it has been placed in the hands of carefully selected patients.
J.J. DISORDERS Book),
OF THE HEART AND CIRCULATIOE. Baltimore, 1951. Williams & Wilkins
By Robert Company,
Levy, M.D. (Ed.) (Nelson 942 pages. Price $12.00.
Medical
This book is printed on excellent paper and has unusually clear print. It consists of a series of monographs by various authors, rather than a highly integrated textbook. The authors have been carefully selected and most of the chapters are good. It is a book which everyone with a special interest in cardiology will want to read. However, physicians with more general interests may have some difficulty in locating pertinent material, as it may be found in any one of several chapters and be omitted from chapters where one might expect to find it. The index is excellent and should help overcome this problem. It is more difficult for the student who wishes to get a In contradistinction to this, there is also considerable complete concept of a subject in one area. overlapping in some areas as in the chapters, Coronary Heart Disease, Coronary Insufficiency, and Surgical Treatment of .4ngina Pectoris. Each author expresses his own opinion and no attempt is made to reconcile differences. This may confuse the student but the varied concepts so forcefully presented will be enjoyed by the experienced and critical cardiologist. An unusually long and detailed presentation on prevalence of heart disease will be of value to those working in organizations which have to present the problem to laymen. The chapter on pericardial disease is well written and unusually complete. Too little is said about “acute nonspecific pericarditis,” which is of great importance in the differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The chapter on congenital heart disease is not of much practical value and was left in, as the This is more than compensated for by Bing’s excellent presauthor says, for sentimental reasons. entation in the next chapter. The discussion of rheumatic fever is good, but there are some omissions. The selection of cases for treatment with radioactive iodine needs attention; there should also be a critical analysis of the value of ACTH and cortisone, on the length of time for bed rest and the criteria for getting up, and finally, on sulfadiazine and penicillin prophylaxis. Acute bacterial endocarditis and subacute bacterial endocarditis are not separated sufficiently. The section on treatment of the latter is quite good. The chapter on management of hypertension (general management) is good. Management of Myocardial Infarction is an excellent chapter, especially the practical advice to the patient with a healed infarct. This author is inclined to agree with the opinion on bed rest in patients with myocardial infarction expressed by Dr. Levy. The chapter on physiology is well done by an outstanding authority. One would like to see this expanded. This should either be eliminated Too little space is devoted to peripheral vascular disease. or increased. A section on the differential diagnosis of chest pain by Harrison would be valuable. Harrison’s section on heart failure presents primarily one concept rather than comparing both concepts of pathogenesis. A. 1. M. SPATIAL VECTORCARDIOGRAPHY. By A. Grishman, and London, 1952, W. B. Saunders Company,
M.D., and L. Scherlis, 217 pages. Price $6.00.
M.D.
Philadelphia
The fundamental electrophysiologic principles and the technique of derivation are clearly and concisely treated by the authors in the early chapters of the book. The study of the process of ventricular activation which is so important for vectorcardiographic interpretation is only superficially analyzed.