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Practical fiberoptic esophagoscopy
June
1988
BOOK REVIEWS
cholangiopancreatography and of the enterohepatic circulation of bile salts would have been helpful. It hardly seems necessary to include a discussion of intravenous cholangiography in 1987. In spots it is downright wrong or misleading. The most glaring errors are in the discussion of hepatitis B. The authors state that this disease is more infectious than hepatitis A, that patients with antibody to hepatitis B e are not infectious, that infected patients should be quarantined, that they should not drink alcohol or work, and that vaccination for travel to endemic areas is advisable, all statements that may have some advocates but that are probably not true in any simple way. The discussion of the pathophysiology of ascites is also misleading, but this is understandable given the ongoing confusion in the field. The advice about low-fat diets and surgery for silent gallstones is probably overstated. The discussion of biliary atresia is also dated, implying that this disorder is a congenital defect of formation of the bile duct. In other spots it is inspired. The explanation of esophageal varices is world-class. The discussions about the susceptibility of women to alcohol, the effects of drugs and toxins on the liver, cancer in or of the liver, and the place of liver transplantation in the care of patients with liver disease are all excellent. All in all, this is a useful book and will be a good investment for practitioners specializing in hepatology, for liver clinics, and for lay groups devoted to fighting liver disease. CAROLINE A. RIELY, M.D.
New Haven, Connecticut
Practical Fiberoptic Esophogoscopy. By Y. Kumagai and H. Makuuchi (translated by J.P. Barron). 116 pp. IgakuShoin, Tokyo, Japan, 1987. ISBN: o-89640-1294. “ .
refrain audacious tar, do you know whom you are addressing . . , ?” .
.
It seems audacious that a gastroenterologist cum book editor would ask a diagnostic radiologist to review a text on esophagoscopy; it seems absurd for the radiologist to have accepted. However, such acts of apparent irrationality may help those of different faiths to an understanding of the problems and values of systems other than their own. This is a text on practical esophagoscopy. It has been translated from the Japanese without the glaring grammatic goofs common to such endeavors. There are few typographic or syntactic errors. Paper and print are of excellent quality. There are many tables that are neat and easy to understand and not necessary, at least for this reviewer. There are many neat drawings meant to illustrate complicated classifications that serve little purpose save to suggest that the drawings stand in lieu of unobtainable endoscopic photographs. The quality of the photographs and of the esophageal radiographs is excellent, enough to make me jealous of the latter; a more liberal use of arrows would help me to a better understanding of the former. The index is, unhappily, atrocious.
1517
The authors are understandably enthusiastic about the value of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. I, however, shudder at the thought of its use in trauma cases and will continue to shudder even if you tell me it is safe. The references to and pictures of spray dyeing with Lugol’s solution and toluidine blue and of marking with India ink are provocative, to say the least. Why are my gastroenterology colleagues not involved? Directly confronted, they mumbled something about value. It really does not seem difficult to do. Is there proof that it only serves to make pretty pictures? I have no idea whether or not endoscopists ought to own this book. I do know that it provides excellent correlation between radiographs and photographs and I know where I will look when I want to see what my scoping colleagues say they saw. Now, if I can only find it in the index. SOLOMON S. SCHWARTZ,
M.D
New Haven, Connecticut
Gastritis-A Critical Review. By R. Cheili, A. Perasso, and A. Giacosa. 242 pp., 40 figures. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, F.R.G., 1987. ISBN: O-387-17466-4. This small volume is called a critical review and is indeed an encyclopedia of references. For that alone it is worth having on the shelf. Like many scholarly works, it is densely written, and in this case in rather stilted and often awkward English, which is obviously a translation. There is an interchange of c’s and k’s, e.g., objekt. The word “assumption” is used instead of “consumption,” e.g., assumption of food and drink. The ending “-tic” is used on such words as bioptic and autoptic, which is not familiar to American readers. Some sentences are not understandable, such as “even in nongastric mucosa there may exist rare and isolated metaplastic cells,” and “concerning the content of IgA, - IgG, - and IgM - containing plasma cells and lysozyme, any difference between superficial gastritis and normal mucosa were observed.” It is obvious that the book could have been better edited. The content of the book is a resume of the literature on gastritis, to which the authors add their own numerous observations and conclusions, which are neatly listed in shaded blocks at the end of each section, to establish their views on controversial matters. The low-power (x80) black and white photomicrographs are too topographic. Those of higher power are sharp and illustrative. The biggest problem most pathologists will have is between what is called normal and what is called chronic superficial gastritis. The term “normal” means average, not necessarily free of inflammatory cells. One practically always finds plasma cells in the lamina propria between the gastric crypts, just as one does throughout the gastrointestinal tract. If there is no associated clinical disease, should this not be considered physiologic? After all, the authors state that “The endoscopic picture of a normal mucosa agrees only rarely with histologic controls, which often demonstrate the presence of chronic inflammation,” and “chronic gastritis can often follow its course in a wholly asymptomatic way.” When does the physiologic become the pathologic? Many cases of “chronic superficial
1988
BOOK REVIEWS
cholangiopancreatography and of the enterohepatic circulation of bile salts would have been helpful. It hardly seems necessary to include a discussion of intravenous cholangiography in 1987. In spots it is downright wrong or misleading. The most glaring errors are in the discussion of hepatitis B. The authors state that this disease is more infectious than hepatitis A, that patients with antibody to hepatitis B e are not infectious, that infected patients should be quarantined, that they should not drink alcohol or work, and that vaccination for travel to endemic areas is advisable, all statements that may have some advocates but that are probably not true in any simple way. The discussion of the pathophysiology of ascites is also misleading, but this is understandable given the ongoing confusion in the field. The advice about low-fat diets and surgery for silent gallstones is probably overstated. The discussion of biliary atresia is also dated, implying that this disorder is a congenital defect of formation of the bile duct. In other spots it is inspired. The explanation of esophageal varices is world-class. The discussions about the susceptibility of women to alcohol, the effects of drugs and toxins on the liver, cancer in or of the liver, and the place of liver transplantation in the care of patients with liver disease are all excellent. All in all, this is a useful book and will be a good investment for practitioners specializing in hepatology, for liver clinics, and for lay groups devoted to fighting liver disease. CAROLINE A. RIELY, M.D.
New Haven, Connecticut
Practical Fiberoptic Esophogoscopy. By Y. Kumagai and H. Makuuchi (translated by J.P. Barron). 116 pp. IgakuShoin, Tokyo, Japan, 1987. ISBN: o-89640-1294. “ .
refrain audacious tar, do you know whom you are addressing . . , ?” .
.
It seems audacious that a gastroenterologist cum book editor would ask a diagnostic radiologist to review a text on esophagoscopy; it seems absurd for the radiologist to have accepted. However, such acts of apparent irrationality may help those of different faiths to an understanding of the problems and values of systems other than their own. This is a text on practical esophagoscopy. It has been translated from the Japanese without the glaring grammatic goofs common to such endeavors. There are few typographic or syntactic errors. Paper and print are of excellent quality. There are many tables that are neat and easy to understand and not necessary, at least for this reviewer. There are many neat drawings meant to illustrate complicated classifications that serve little purpose save to suggest that the drawings stand in lieu of unobtainable endoscopic photographs. The quality of the photographs and of the esophageal radiographs is excellent, enough to make me jealous of the latter; a more liberal use of arrows would help me to a better understanding of the former. The index is, unhappily, atrocious.
1517
The authors are understandably enthusiastic about the value of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. I, however, shudder at the thought of its use in trauma cases and will continue to shudder even if you tell me it is safe. The references to and pictures of spray dyeing with Lugol’s solution and toluidine blue and of marking with India ink are provocative, to say the least. Why are my gastroenterology colleagues not involved? Directly confronted, they mumbled something about value. It really does not seem difficult to do. Is there proof that it only serves to make pretty pictures? I have no idea whether or not endoscopists ought to own this book. I do know that it provides excellent correlation between radiographs and photographs and I know where I will look when I want to see what my scoping colleagues say they saw. Now, if I can only find it in the index. SOLOMON S. SCHWARTZ,
M.D
New Haven, Connecticut
Gastritis-A Critical Review. By R. Cheili, A. Perasso, and A. Giacosa. 242 pp., 40 figures. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, F.R.G., 1987. ISBN: O-387-17466-4. This small volume is called a critical review and is indeed an encyclopedia of references. For that alone it is worth having on the shelf. Like many scholarly works, it is densely written, and in this case in rather stilted and often awkward English, which is obviously a translation. There is an interchange of c’s and k’s, e.g., objekt. The word “assumption” is used instead of “consumption,” e.g., assumption of food and drink. The ending “-tic” is used on such words as bioptic and autoptic, which is not familiar to American readers. Some sentences are not understandable, such as “even in nongastric mucosa there may exist rare and isolated metaplastic cells,” and “concerning the content of IgA, - IgG, - and IgM - containing plasma cells and lysozyme, any difference between superficial gastritis and normal mucosa were observed.” It is obvious that the book could have been better edited. The content of the book is a resume of the literature on gastritis, to which the authors add their own numerous observations and conclusions, which are neatly listed in shaded blocks at the end of each section, to establish their views on controversial matters. The low-power (x80) black and white photomicrographs are too topographic. Those of higher power are sharp and illustrative. The biggest problem most pathologists will have is between what is called normal and what is called chronic superficial gastritis. The term “normal” means average, not necessarily free of inflammatory cells. One practically always finds plasma cells in the lamina propria between the gastric crypts, just as one does throughout the gastrointestinal tract. If there is no associated clinical disease, should this not be considered physiologic? After all, the authors state that “The endoscopic picture of a normal mucosa agrees only rarely with histologic controls, which often demonstrate the presence of chronic inflammation,” and “chronic gastritis can often follow its course in a wholly asymptomatic way.” When does the physiologic become the pathologic? Many cases of “chronic superficial