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Ocular Examination, Basis, and Techniques
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
772
The book is designed by the French and for the French. It is interesting, therefore, in that it gives us a broad view of the thinking of the excellent French school of ophthalmology. The approaches to each section are sound and contain some very practical ideas that are of use to us. The illustrations are in black and white and are satisfactory. There is an excellent index. There are no English summaries. Derrick Vail
MANAGEMENT
OF
PATIENTS
WITH
SUB-
By Gerald Fonda. St. Louis, Mosby, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 1 6 7 pages, 1 1 4 black and white figures, questions and answers, references, index. NORMAL
VISION.
$13.00
This book is a practical dissertation on the clinical management of the patient with subnormal vision. It is full of common-sense observations derived from the patients seen personally by the author. Emphasis is placed on the fact that if ophthalmologists become familiar with a few basic optical aids, many patients can be satisfactorily fitted. The author stresses the fact that optical aids are primarily of use in helping the strongly motivated patient to read; they are seldom of use in helping to improve distance vision. And finally he advises that the device which is most practical for the patient and easiest for him to use is the one which should be prescribed. I have only one point of disagreement with Dr. Fonda. He finds large-type print of little use ; my experience has been that while patients with poor vision, who wear optical aids of one type of. another, can read material printed in usual type, they can read large-type material more easily and more rapidly. The book is crammed full of useful information and is highly recommended. Daniel Snydacker
MARCH, 1971
OCULAR E X A M I N A T I O N , BASIS, AND T E C H -
By Arthur H. Keeney. St. Louis, Mosby, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 2 7 2 pages, black-and-white illustrations, subject inNIQUES.
dex.
$15.25
The ideal teaching situation is said to be a log with the teacher on one end and the student on the other. Some books play the dull roll of the log; this one does not. The author has raised the readability of "ocular examination" to an interesting level by citing many disease entities at every opportunity to prove the "why" of that portion of the examination. Another tactic successfully pursued by the author is that of a father-son talk, with the father implying that his art is more than the son's science, and, if the son will just stop fidgeting, the father will explain the whole thing. The author has carefully directed the contents of the book toward those items which he must consider important and not covered elsewhere, while leaving out details of some usually considered important portions of the ocular examination. A vivid example is the 10 pages (pp. 3 - 1 2 ) on the setting up of examination rooms, including such precise information as the color of the washroom walls —but only one sentence each is allotted to the flare and the cell in the anterior chamber (p. 1 4 0 ) . Some of the far-from-routine techniques are also mentioned such as thermography and ultrasonography. Some, including this reviewer, may object to the reference technique: ". . . the following classification (Keeney, 1 9 6 8 ) , " with no further referencing in the book. The student who wishes to expand upon details in the book has either to do a bibliographic search or find another appropriate reading in the "additional reading" cited at the end of the book. Despite this reviewer's several criticisms, the book fills a void in the new resident's orientation and is a good review for any ophthalmologist. The book uses too much ophthalmic jargon to be the first text for a resident, but within a few weeks on any
VOL. 71, NO. 3
773
BOOK REVIEWS
ophthalmic service a resident could read this book with interest and benefit. Robert D. Reinecke
E N OPHTALMOLOGIE (GuideDictionnaire). By Maurice P. Ravault. Paris, Doin Deren, 1970. Clothbound, 4 2 0 pages.
SYNDROMES
This guide does not limit itself to describing various ophthalmic syndromes. It also lists eponymic signs and phenomena such as Bell's phenomenon and describes Bergmeister's papilla. In this sense this work might more appropriately be called "Eponyms in Ophthalmology." Since most classic syndromes and eponyms are Usted, the book has some usefulness, clinically, in helping the physician focus upon an anomaly which he perceives but which he cannot immediately classify. In an appendix, tables organized on the basis of ocular symptoms permit the retrieval of a specific syndrome. Another set of tables classifies disturbances by anatomical systems such as disorders of the orbit or of the optic nerve, while another groups diseases generically such as craniofacial dysostoses and first arch syndromes, neuromuscular disturbances.
analysis of 6 0 0 0 patients seen on the Low Vision Service of the New York Association for the Blind. Chapter 1 2 on the clinical application of visual aids contains a good deal of useful information for the ophthalmologist who has no experience in prescribing visual aids. Most of the other information, including the nearly 4 0 pages of Chapter 13 on characteristics of basic eye conditions, is so simplified that it brings nothing new to the ophthalmologist. The appendix is of greater value. It is unfortunate that the classification of causes of severe vision impairment and blindness was modified from the classification of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. The statistics based on the modified classification have lost a good deal of their comparative value. There is a useful list of equipment necessary for the establishment of a low vision clinic, together with the source from which the various items can be obtained. Daniel Snydacker
COLOR
BLINDNESS:
AN
EVOLUTIONARY
By Eleanor E. Faye. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 2 3 7 pages, subject index. $ 9 . 7 5
By Ricardo Cruz-Coke, edited By I. Newton Kugelmass. Springfield, Thomas, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 1 5 6 pages, subject index, 1 1 pages references, index, 4 0 black and white figures. $ 8 . 7 5 The purpose of this book is described as "an attempt to understand color vision of human species based on evolutionary theories.... Another purpose in writing this book is to give medical doctors a look at some of the new biological approaches to medicine...."
This book will be of interest primarily to technicians and workers for the visually handicapped who are not physicians, although there are some parts of it which contain interesting tips on management for the ophthalmologist. There are four sections: Clinical Definitions, Subnormal Vision in the Adult, Subnormal Vision in the Child, and the Appendix, which presents a statistical
The first three chapters are concerned with basic concepts of colorimetry, a discussion on visual pigments, and some theories of color vision. The author uses extensive quotation from a variety of sources in an attempt to avoid error or misrepresentation. As a result, the flow of information at times seems choppy and the reader does not acquire a basic feeling for the foundations of
Within its limited context, this little book has merit. Marcel Frenkel
THE
L O W VISION PATIENT, CLINICAL E X -
PERIENCE W I T H
A D U L T S A N D CHILDREN.
APPROACH.
772
The book is designed by the French and for the French. It is interesting, therefore, in that it gives us a broad view of the thinking of the excellent French school of ophthalmology. The approaches to each section are sound and contain some very practical ideas that are of use to us. The illustrations are in black and white and are satisfactory. There is an excellent index. There are no English summaries. Derrick Vail
MANAGEMENT
OF
PATIENTS
WITH
SUB-
By Gerald Fonda. St. Louis, Mosby, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 1 6 7 pages, 1 1 4 black and white figures, questions and answers, references, index. NORMAL
VISION.
$13.00
This book is a practical dissertation on the clinical management of the patient with subnormal vision. It is full of common-sense observations derived from the patients seen personally by the author. Emphasis is placed on the fact that if ophthalmologists become familiar with a few basic optical aids, many patients can be satisfactorily fitted. The author stresses the fact that optical aids are primarily of use in helping the strongly motivated patient to read; they are seldom of use in helping to improve distance vision. And finally he advises that the device which is most practical for the patient and easiest for him to use is the one which should be prescribed. I have only one point of disagreement with Dr. Fonda. He finds large-type print of little use ; my experience has been that while patients with poor vision, who wear optical aids of one type of. another, can read material printed in usual type, they can read large-type material more easily and more rapidly. The book is crammed full of useful information and is highly recommended. Daniel Snydacker
MARCH, 1971
OCULAR E X A M I N A T I O N , BASIS, AND T E C H -
By Arthur H. Keeney. St. Louis, Mosby, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 2 7 2 pages, black-and-white illustrations, subject inNIQUES.
dex.
$15.25
The ideal teaching situation is said to be a log with the teacher on one end and the student on the other. Some books play the dull roll of the log; this one does not. The author has raised the readability of "ocular examination" to an interesting level by citing many disease entities at every opportunity to prove the "why" of that portion of the examination. Another tactic successfully pursued by the author is that of a father-son talk, with the father implying that his art is more than the son's science, and, if the son will just stop fidgeting, the father will explain the whole thing. The author has carefully directed the contents of the book toward those items which he must consider important and not covered elsewhere, while leaving out details of some usually considered important portions of the ocular examination. A vivid example is the 10 pages (pp. 3 - 1 2 ) on the setting up of examination rooms, including such precise information as the color of the washroom walls —but only one sentence each is allotted to the flare and the cell in the anterior chamber (p. 1 4 0 ) . Some of the far-from-routine techniques are also mentioned such as thermography and ultrasonography. Some, including this reviewer, may object to the reference technique: ". . . the following classification (Keeney, 1 9 6 8 ) , " with no further referencing in the book. The student who wishes to expand upon details in the book has either to do a bibliographic search or find another appropriate reading in the "additional reading" cited at the end of the book. Despite this reviewer's several criticisms, the book fills a void in the new resident's orientation and is a good review for any ophthalmologist. The book uses too much ophthalmic jargon to be the first text for a resident, but within a few weeks on any
VOL. 71, NO. 3
773
BOOK REVIEWS
ophthalmic service a resident could read this book with interest and benefit. Robert D. Reinecke
E N OPHTALMOLOGIE (GuideDictionnaire). By Maurice P. Ravault. Paris, Doin Deren, 1970. Clothbound, 4 2 0 pages.
SYNDROMES
This guide does not limit itself to describing various ophthalmic syndromes. It also lists eponymic signs and phenomena such as Bell's phenomenon and describes Bergmeister's papilla. In this sense this work might more appropriately be called "Eponyms in Ophthalmology." Since most classic syndromes and eponyms are Usted, the book has some usefulness, clinically, in helping the physician focus upon an anomaly which he perceives but which he cannot immediately classify. In an appendix, tables organized on the basis of ocular symptoms permit the retrieval of a specific syndrome. Another set of tables classifies disturbances by anatomical systems such as disorders of the orbit or of the optic nerve, while another groups diseases generically such as craniofacial dysostoses and first arch syndromes, neuromuscular disturbances.
analysis of 6 0 0 0 patients seen on the Low Vision Service of the New York Association for the Blind. Chapter 1 2 on the clinical application of visual aids contains a good deal of useful information for the ophthalmologist who has no experience in prescribing visual aids. Most of the other information, including the nearly 4 0 pages of Chapter 13 on characteristics of basic eye conditions, is so simplified that it brings nothing new to the ophthalmologist. The appendix is of greater value. It is unfortunate that the classification of causes of severe vision impairment and blindness was modified from the classification of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. The statistics based on the modified classification have lost a good deal of their comparative value. There is a useful list of equipment necessary for the establishment of a low vision clinic, together with the source from which the various items can be obtained. Daniel Snydacker
COLOR
BLINDNESS:
AN
EVOLUTIONARY
By Eleanor E. Faye. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 2 3 7 pages, subject index. $ 9 . 7 5
By Ricardo Cruz-Coke, edited By I. Newton Kugelmass. Springfield, Thomas, 1 9 7 0 . Clothbound, 1 5 6 pages, subject index, 1 1 pages references, index, 4 0 black and white figures. $ 8 . 7 5 The purpose of this book is described as "an attempt to understand color vision of human species based on evolutionary theories.... Another purpose in writing this book is to give medical doctors a look at some of the new biological approaches to medicine...."
This book will be of interest primarily to technicians and workers for the visually handicapped who are not physicians, although there are some parts of it which contain interesting tips on management for the ophthalmologist. There are four sections: Clinical Definitions, Subnormal Vision in the Adult, Subnormal Vision in the Child, and the Appendix, which presents a statistical
The first three chapters are concerned with basic concepts of colorimetry, a discussion on visual pigments, and some theories of color vision. The author uses extensive quotation from a variety of sources in an attempt to avoid error or misrepresentation. As a result, the flow of information at times seems choppy and the reader does not acquire a basic feeling for the foundations of
Within its limited context, this little book has merit. Marcel Frenkel
THE
L O W VISION PATIENT, CLINICAL E X -
PERIENCE W I T H
A D U L T S A N D CHILDREN.
APPROACH.