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Ophthalmology: A Textbook for Students and Practitioners
BOOK REVIEWS McDonald, M.D., Fred Wilson, M.D., W. F. Hughes, M.D., Byron Smith, M.D., R. Troutman, M.D., Ramon Castroviejo, M.D., A. E. Maumenee, M.D., and John M. Mc Lean, M.D. If every ophthalmologist does not, as yet, know and use Highlights, he is missing the boat. Derrick Vail.
AUDIO-HIGHLIGHTS
OF
OPHTHALMOLOGY.
By Benjamin F. Boyd, M.D. Box 1189, Panama, Republic of Panama, 1960-1961 series. 12 one-hour tape recordings in total. Suitable for either (specified) 3J4 speed (large recorders) or 1% speed (small recorders). Price: $57.00. To any ophthalmologist who owns a tape recorder adjusted to either of these speeds, these tape-recordings bring lively discus sions of up-to-date ophthalmic subjects. The mellow voice of Dr. Boyd in impeccable English, and beautifully edited, recites to you in your office, study, or in your car or on the train, even on the beach, the whys, where fores, whos and whats of thoughts on all facets of ophthalmology. The opinions of world authorities are relayed to your ears and brains and can be listened to over and over by the individual or by groups around a table, a clever and most useful modern idea of teaching. The success of these recordings are at tested to by the fact that in the short time since their introduction, more than 600 sub scriptions are in force. Each department of ophthalmology in uni versity and hospital should own a suitable tape recorder and subscribe to Audio-High lights of Ophthalmology for use by its staff and residents. Derrick Vail.
847
OPHTHALMOLOGY: A TEXTBOOK FOR STU DENTS AND PRACTITIONERS. By F. Rinte-
len, M.D. Basel, S. Karger Verlag, 1961. 455 pages, 124 illustrations in black and white, 38 color plates. Available in U.S.A. from Albert J. Phiebig, P.O. Box 352, White Plains, New York. Price: $18.00. Rinetelen who occupies the chair of oph thalmology at the University of Basel, ad dresses his textbook to the medical student and the nonophthalmologist in the practice of medicine. It would seem that he has been singularly successful in his endeavors. The medical student will find a thorough and sys tematic presentation not only of the clinical material but also of the essential anatomic and physiologic facts of the eye and its adnexa. The general practitioner will be guided in the diagnosis of diseases and injuries of the eye which he is expected to recognize and to treat. Both should profit from the exhaustive discussion of ocular manifesta tions in systemic diseases. Even the oph thalmologist will gain useful information from perusal of this volume. I wonder how many of them are familiar with the maladie des griffes de chat, a lymphadenitis follow ing scratch wounds caused by cats. The arrangement of the book, quite nat urally, follows more or less that of similar older examples. Of particular excellence are the chapters on the Iacrimal apparatus and on extraocular motorics. There is also a very detailed description of the ophthalmoscopic aspects of arteriosclerotic and hypertensive retinopathy. Ophthalmologists will benefit from the lucid presentation of blepharospasm due to involvement of the extrapyramidal system. A chapter on medico legal aspects and compensation with regard to ocular injuries is of interest to the Swiss physician only. Yet one cannot help but express a desire to see a similar unequivocal treatment of this sub ject in American textbooks and its applica tion in court procedures. According to Swiss law, the mere possibility of a causal relation-
848
BOOK REVIEWS
ship between an eye disease and an accident is not recognized as a warrant for compen sation. This prevents undeserved and costly awards. The discussion on glaucoma is perhaps a little disappointing. The mechanics of acqueous production and circulation are treated quite adequately. There seems to be not suf ficient stress on the essential difference be tween open-angle and closed-angle glaucoma. At times, one actually gains the impression that the author himself does not believe in this difference, as for instance in his discussion of the various provocative tests. He states that megalocornea should always arouse sus picion of a congenital glaucoma; from the text it is not clear whether he means to say that megalocornea may be associated with glaucoma (a statement which obviously would be wrong) or whether it must be dif ferentiated from hydrophthalmos. His choice of surgical treatment for acute glaucoma is the classical complete iridectomy rather than the more conservative yet equally effective basal iridectomy. Rintelen still adheres to the older idea of desquamation of the lens capsule as the cause of glaucoma capsulare in spite of the recent investigations by Theo bald and Kirk and by H. Gifford. The fluid style and lucid presentation main tained throughout are a joy. The illustra tions and their reproductions are among the very best. Stefan Van Wien.
T H E EYE AND VIRUS. By R. Nataf, P. Le-
pine and G. Bonamour. Paris, Masson et Cie, 1960. 1022 pages, 172 figures, 20 plates of which 17 are in color. Price: Not listed. In this superb monograph the authors dis cuss the ocular viruses and the ocular mani
festations of general affections of viral ori gin from every point of view which could possibly interest the ophthalmologist. The discussions are exhaustive but not exhaust ing as one might think when he sees that they cover more than one thousand pages. The book is divided into four major parts. In Part I the subject of general virology is discussed in 17 chapters. The authors make clear what a virus is. They describe its char acteristics in general, its morphology and culture, its effects on the living cell, and the role of nucleoproteins in the chemical nature of the virus. In a second segment of this part they discuss the position of the virus in ocular pathology. In Part II the authors provide a systemat ic discussion on the role of viral infection in each anatomic segment of the eye—the lids, conjunctiva, sclera, lacrimal organs, the cor nea, the uvea, the optic nerve, the motor system, the retina, and in the embryopathies. In Part III the ophthalmologic manifesta tions in the course of general viral diseases are discussed. Part IV is devoted to syndromes which are actually accepted as viral in nature. In the first of the three chapters in this seg ment the authors discuss the pluri-orificial ectodermoses, namely, (1) Reiter's syn drome, (2) Stevens-Johnson disease, pem phigus, (3) the varicelliform eruption of Kaposi, and (4) the aphthoses. The subject of a second chapter is the malady of Beh^etAdamatiades, and in the third chapter the accumulated knowledge of the uveomeningeal syndrome is presented. In a final very brief segement entitled "By way of conclusion," general viral affections are reviewed. These statements provide only a suggestion of the enormous range of the authors' dis cussion but cannot convey my enthusiastic admiration of this excellent monograph. F. HERBERT HAESSLER
AUDIO-HIGHLIGHTS
OF
OPHTHALMOLOGY.
By Benjamin F. Boyd, M.D. Box 1189, Panama, Republic of Panama, 1960-1961 series. 12 one-hour tape recordings in total. Suitable for either (specified) 3J4 speed (large recorders) or 1% speed (small recorders). Price: $57.00. To any ophthalmologist who owns a tape recorder adjusted to either of these speeds, these tape-recordings bring lively discus sions of up-to-date ophthalmic subjects. The mellow voice of Dr. Boyd in impeccable English, and beautifully edited, recites to you in your office, study, or in your car or on the train, even on the beach, the whys, where fores, whos and whats of thoughts on all facets of ophthalmology. The opinions of world authorities are relayed to your ears and brains and can be listened to over and over by the individual or by groups around a table, a clever and most useful modern idea of teaching. The success of these recordings are at tested to by the fact that in the short time since their introduction, more than 600 sub scriptions are in force. Each department of ophthalmology in uni versity and hospital should own a suitable tape recorder and subscribe to Audio-High lights of Ophthalmology for use by its staff and residents. Derrick Vail.
847
OPHTHALMOLOGY: A TEXTBOOK FOR STU DENTS AND PRACTITIONERS. By F. Rinte-
len, M.D. Basel, S. Karger Verlag, 1961. 455 pages, 124 illustrations in black and white, 38 color plates. Available in U.S.A. from Albert J. Phiebig, P.O. Box 352, White Plains, New York. Price: $18.00. Rinetelen who occupies the chair of oph thalmology at the University of Basel, ad dresses his textbook to the medical student and the nonophthalmologist in the practice of medicine. It would seem that he has been singularly successful in his endeavors. The medical student will find a thorough and sys tematic presentation not only of the clinical material but also of the essential anatomic and physiologic facts of the eye and its adnexa. The general practitioner will be guided in the diagnosis of diseases and injuries of the eye which he is expected to recognize and to treat. Both should profit from the exhaustive discussion of ocular manifesta tions in systemic diseases. Even the oph thalmologist will gain useful information from perusal of this volume. I wonder how many of them are familiar with the maladie des griffes de chat, a lymphadenitis follow ing scratch wounds caused by cats. The arrangement of the book, quite nat urally, follows more or less that of similar older examples. Of particular excellence are the chapters on the Iacrimal apparatus and on extraocular motorics. There is also a very detailed description of the ophthalmoscopic aspects of arteriosclerotic and hypertensive retinopathy. Ophthalmologists will benefit from the lucid presentation of blepharospasm due to involvement of the extrapyramidal system. A chapter on medico legal aspects and compensation with regard to ocular injuries is of interest to the Swiss physician only. Yet one cannot help but express a desire to see a similar unequivocal treatment of this sub ject in American textbooks and its applica tion in court procedures. According to Swiss law, the mere possibility of a causal relation-
848
BOOK REVIEWS
ship between an eye disease and an accident is not recognized as a warrant for compen sation. This prevents undeserved and costly awards. The discussion on glaucoma is perhaps a little disappointing. The mechanics of acqueous production and circulation are treated quite adequately. There seems to be not suf ficient stress on the essential difference be tween open-angle and closed-angle glaucoma. At times, one actually gains the impression that the author himself does not believe in this difference, as for instance in his discussion of the various provocative tests. He states that megalocornea should always arouse sus picion of a congenital glaucoma; from the text it is not clear whether he means to say that megalocornea may be associated with glaucoma (a statement which obviously would be wrong) or whether it must be dif ferentiated from hydrophthalmos. His choice of surgical treatment for acute glaucoma is the classical complete iridectomy rather than the more conservative yet equally effective basal iridectomy. Rintelen still adheres to the older idea of desquamation of the lens capsule as the cause of glaucoma capsulare in spite of the recent investigations by Theo bald and Kirk and by H. Gifford. The fluid style and lucid presentation main tained throughout are a joy. The illustra tions and their reproductions are among the very best. Stefan Van Wien.
T H E EYE AND VIRUS. By R. Nataf, P. Le-
pine and G. Bonamour. Paris, Masson et Cie, 1960. 1022 pages, 172 figures, 20 plates of which 17 are in color. Price: Not listed. In this superb monograph the authors dis cuss the ocular viruses and the ocular mani
festations of general affections of viral ori gin from every point of view which could possibly interest the ophthalmologist. The discussions are exhaustive but not exhaust ing as one might think when he sees that they cover more than one thousand pages. The book is divided into four major parts. In Part I the subject of general virology is discussed in 17 chapters. The authors make clear what a virus is. They describe its char acteristics in general, its morphology and culture, its effects on the living cell, and the role of nucleoproteins in the chemical nature of the virus. In a second segment of this part they discuss the position of the virus in ocular pathology. In Part II the authors provide a systemat ic discussion on the role of viral infection in each anatomic segment of the eye—the lids, conjunctiva, sclera, lacrimal organs, the cor nea, the uvea, the optic nerve, the motor system, the retina, and in the embryopathies. In Part III the ophthalmologic manifesta tions in the course of general viral diseases are discussed. Part IV is devoted to syndromes which are actually accepted as viral in nature. In the first of the three chapters in this seg ment the authors discuss the pluri-orificial ectodermoses, namely, (1) Reiter's syn drome, (2) Stevens-Johnson disease, pem phigus, (3) the varicelliform eruption of Kaposi, and (4) the aphthoses. The subject of a second chapter is the malady of Beh^etAdamatiades, and in the third chapter the accumulated knowledge of the uveomeningeal syndrome is presented. In a final very brief segement entitled "By way of conclusion," general viral affections are reviewed. These statements provide only a suggestion of the enormous range of the authors' dis cussion but cannot convey my enthusiastic admiration of this excellent monograph. F. HERBERT HAESSLER