Paediatric Cardiology volume 5

275 of all levels of skill and experience. Do remember that it is almost as short as many of Dr. Anderson’s papers! It will be a long time before this manual is superseded. I do hope that ere long Dr. Anderson will sit down with one of the world’s leading medical artists and one of the world’s leading paediatric cardiac surgeons to produce a textbook of operative anatomy for us and those who come after us. Freeman Hospital Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.

M.P. Holden

Paediatric Cardiology Volume 5 Editors: Michael Churchill

Robert

H.

Anderson,

Fergus

J. Macartney,

Elliot

A.

Shineboume

and

Tynan Livingstone,

Edinburgh;

476 pp.;

1983;

MO

This book is the fifth in the series Paediatric Cardiology which first appeared in 1977. This volume is the publication of a symposium held in London in September 1981 sponsored by the British Heart Foundation. It presents topics of current interest in this rapidly changing field. The format is well chosen for this type of book. Each of nine topics is presented as a mini symposium. There is an introduction including a brief overview of the topic at the beginning of the symposium. Then several papers are presented relevant to the topic. Each paper contains complete original data and is fully referenced. A brief discussion by the audience is included at the end of each paper. The topics covered, while limited in number, are in fields which are changing rapidly or where new information is rapidly accumulating. For example, the anatomy, pulmonary blood supply, diagnostic approach, and options of palliative and corrective surgery of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect are presented. Cross-sectional echccardiography is reviewed with special emphasis placed on correlation of cross-sectional anatomy with echocardiographic images. Experience with the newly developing technique of prenatal detection of congenital heart disease by cross-sectional echocardiography is included. There are also excellent sections on pulmonary vascular disease, atria1 isomerism, surgical management of the univentricular heart, cardiac arrhythmias, problems of valve replacement in children and diagnosis and management of the double outlet ventricle. The strengths of this approach seem obvious. It is possible to assemble undisputed authorities and ask them to discuss subjects of the greatest current interest. It is an efficient way for the reader to bring himself up to date on these subjects. The quality of the individual papers seems remarkably even throughout the book. Illustrations are plentiful and are clearly reproduced. Inclusion of audience discussion and occasional editorial comment add clarification and enjoyment. This book is clearly intended for a sophisticated audience. Those with considerable knowledge and experience in the field will probably benefit most. However, physicians at various levels in their training to become specialists in paediatric cardiovascular fields will also benefit. Finally, since the book contains so much authoritative material, some of which is not available in any other publication, it is a necessary reference source. This book is highly

216 recommended to all paediatric cardiologists, cardiovascular interested in paediatric cardiovascular disease.

surgeons,

University of Indiana Indianapolis, U.S.A.

and others

seriously

Donald A. Girod

Also received but not reviewedMagnesium Volume 1, Nos. 3-6, 1982, Dietary This is a special issue of the new Karger journal

Minerals

and Cardiovascular

of Magnesium.

Disease.

It is available as a separate

publication.

Cellular Biology of the Heart, Editor: pp.; 1982; ElO/$l8.

H.E. Morgan;

Academic

Press, London:

146

This paperback is a supplement to the Journal of MoIecular and Cellular Cardiology and is based on an Anglo/Soviet symposium on Myocardial Metabolism held in 1981. It contains 19 review-type articles from both Soviet and American sources.

Nicotinic Acid by M. Weiner and J. van Eys; Marcel Dekker, New York; 1983; $55.00 (price is 20% higher outside the U.S. and Canada)

307 pp.;

This is the first volume of a new series on Clinical Pharmacology, the overall series to be edited by Dr. Weiner. It organizes and correlates the available information about nicotinic “in a manner designed to be useful to students, acid and metabolically related compounds It is highly specialized, although there are research scientists and medical practitioners.” specific chapters devoted to the treatment of the hyperlipidemias, the effects on vascular tone, and induction of fibrinolysis.