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Neuro-ophthalmology update
SURVEY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
VOLUME
23
l
NUMBER
5 g MARCH-APRIL
BOOK REVI EWS STEVEN
1979
M. PODOS, EDITOR
Symposium on Medical Therapy in Glaucoma, Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, Vol. 12, edited by E. L. Greve. The Hague, Dr. W.
Neuro-ophthalmology Symposium of the University of Miami and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Vol. IX, edited by Joel S. Glaser. St. Louis, C. V.
Junk by Pub., 1977, 137 pp. Price: $17.00.
Mosby Co., 1977, 275 pp., 218 illus. Price: $37.50 and Neuro-ophthalmology Update, edited by J. Lawton Smith. New York, Masson Publishing U.S.A., 1977, 396 pp. Price: $47.50
This short volume consists of fourteen chapters covering the pharmacology of adrenergic and cholinergic agents, membrane-controlled delivery systems, and aspects of clinical management. There is also a short round table discussion at the end. As with all multiauthored symposia, the quality of the papers is variable, but for the most part, they are good and succinct. Heilmann’s chapter on membrane-controlled delivery systems includes an introduction to intravenous, oral, and transdermal systems, in addition to the ocular ones. E. L. Greve discusses the action of the side effects of parasympathomimetic agents. G. Paterson covers the proposed mechanisms of action of the various cholinergics and also the adrenergic influences on aqueous humor dynamics in two well-referenced chapters. In the clinical section, P. Graham gives his criteria for initiation of treatment in patients with suspected glaucoma, criteria which are very much like those presently in vogue in the U.S., ocular hypertensives being separated from patients with damage. Greve stresses aspects of glaucoma management, including diurnal curves and the patient’s general medical status, something busy residents and practitioners are oft wont to neglect. The quality of the editing is for the most part good, but there is a noticeable variability among chapters, making one suspect that the authors, whose native language is not English, had to correct their own galleys. The referencing is variable, but adequate. On the whole, the book is worth reading for the chapters mentioned above. About two to three hours’ reading time gives one a reasonably summarized coverage of the subject at hand. It is interesting to note that the concept of ocular hypertension seems to be gaining in Europe and that, at least from the papers presented here, epinephrine and acetazolamide appear to be coming into wider use there. Residents, in particular, would benefit from reading this as an adjunct to other texts.
These two texts are similar in many ways. Both deal with neuro-ophthalmology, both are edited by members of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Staff, and both consist primarily of short chapters on a variety of subjects. There are 19 chapters in Glaser’s book and 40 chapters in Smith’s. Only 4 of the 86 contributors appear in both volumes (assuming that Smith is giving Norman J. Schatz the benefit of the doubt by listing him as Normal J. Schatz). The chapters, all well written, vary from up-todate summaries to individual case reports. The authors vary also and include professors, residents, an orthoptist, and an optician. Whether a given reader finds a given chapter interesting will depend on his or her own tastes. In Glaser’s text, my favorites were Chapter 1 (a history of how the visual role of the calcarine cortex was discovered), Chapter 7 (a detailed anatomical description of the sellar area) and Chapter 16 (a discussion of the growing role of immunohistochemistry in pituitary typing adenomas). In Smith’s book, Chapter 8, entitled “The six syndromes of the sixth nerve” provided excellent conceptual ’ of the i&roanatomy of cranial nerves E?rEough VIII. Not only do readers have biases, but editors as well. Smith is fearful of a rare complication when he urges in Chapter 1, “Patients should be warned that if they want their baggy eye lids cosmetically improved, they may go blind in that eye.” Yet he is bold, in Chapter 39, when he states that for migraine, “Inderal is the first drug to try.” This drug is not FDA approved for use in migraine and it can produce congestive heart failure and asthmatic attacks. It may have undesirable effects on the fetus (Lancet, Oct. 22, 1977, p. 850). Before buying these books, the purchaser should browse through them and come to a decision. JOEL S. MINDEL
ROBERT RITCH 332
VOLUME
23
l
NUMBER
5 g MARCH-APRIL
BOOK REVI EWS STEVEN
1979
M. PODOS, EDITOR
Symposium on Medical Therapy in Glaucoma, Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, Vol. 12, edited by E. L. Greve. The Hague, Dr. W.
Neuro-ophthalmology Symposium of the University of Miami and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Vol. IX, edited by Joel S. Glaser. St. Louis, C. V.
Junk by Pub., 1977, 137 pp. Price: $17.00.
Mosby Co., 1977, 275 pp., 218 illus. Price: $37.50 and Neuro-ophthalmology Update, edited by J. Lawton Smith. New York, Masson Publishing U.S.A., 1977, 396 pp. Price: $47.50
This short volume consists of fourteen chapters covering the pharmacology of adrenergic and cholinergic agents, membrane-controlled delivery systems, and aspects of clinical management. There is also a short round table discussion at the end. As with all multiauthored symposia, the quality of the papers is variable, but for the most part, they are good and succinct. Heilmann’s chapter on membrane-controlled delivery systems includes an introduction to intravenous, oral, and transdermal systems, in addition to the ocular ones. E. L. Greve discusses the action of the side effects of parasympathomimetic agents. G. Paterson covers the proposed mechanisms of action of the various cholinergics and also the adrenergic influences on aqueous humor dynamics in two well-referenced chapters. In the clinical section, P. Graham gives his criteria for initiation of treatment in patients with suspected glaucoma, criteria which are very much like those presently in vogue in the U.S., ocular hypertensives being separated from patients with damage. Greve stresses aspects of glaucoma management, including diurnal curves and the patient’s general medical status, something busy residents and practitioners are oft wont to neglect. The quality of the editing is for the most part good, but there is a noticeable variability among chapters, making one suspect that the authors, whose native language is not English, had to correct their own galleys. The referencing is variable, but adequate. On the whole, the book is worth reading for the chapters mentioned above. About two to three hours’ reading time gives one a reasonably summarized coverage of the subject at hand. It is interesting to note that the concept of ocular hypertension seems to be gaining in Europe and that, at least from the papers presented here, epinephrine and acetazolamide appear to be coming into wider use there. Residents, in particular, would benefit from reading this as an adjunct to other texts.
These two texts are similar in many ways. Both deal with neuro-ophthalmology, both are edited by members of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Staff, and both consist primarily of short chapters on a variety of subjects. There are 19 chapters in Glaser’s book and 40 chapters in Smith’s. Only 4 of the 86 contributors appear in both volumes (assuming that Smith is giving Norman J. Schatz the benefit of the doubt by listing him as Normal J. Schatz). The chapters, all well written, vary from up-todate summaries to individual case reports. The authors vary also and include professors, residents, an orthoptist, and an optician. Whether a given reader finds a given chapter interesting will depend on his or her own tastes. In Glaser’s text, my favorites were Chapter 1 (a history of how the visual role of the calcarine cortex was discovered), Chapter 7 (a detailed anatomical description of the sellar area) and Chapter 16 (a discussion of the growing role of immunohistochemistry in pituitary typing adenomas). In Smith’s book, Chapter 8, entitled “The six syndromes of the sixth nerve” provided excellent conceptual ’ of the i&roanatomy of cranial nerves E?rEough VIII. Not only do readers have biases, but editors as well. Smith is fearful of a rare complication when he urges in Chapter 1, “Patients should be warned that if they want their baggy eye lids cosmetically improved, they may go blind in that eye.” Yet he is bold, in Chapter 39, when he states that for migraine, “Inderal is the first drug to try.” This drug is not FDA approved for use in migraine and it can produce congestive heart failure and asthmatic attacks. It may have undesirable effects on the fetus (Lancet, Oct. 22, 1977, p. 850). Before buying these books, the purchaser should browse through them and come to a decision. JOEL S. MINDEL
ROBERT RITCH 332