- Email: [email protected]
Tracheotomy: A clinical and experimental study
Book
Reviews
Tracheotomy: A Clinical and Experimental Study. By Thomas G. NeIson, M.D. WiIIiam & WiIkins Co. Baltimore, 1958. Price $3.75.
This book shouId be of interest to specialists who perform tracheotomy frequently. The book is too detaiIed and too compIete to interest most genera1 practitioners. The titIe, “Tracheotomy: A CIinical and Experimental Study,” is somewhat misIeading because there is no new material in the book. The experimenta study refers to clinica experiences more than research experiences. The Iist of references is exceIIent. The drawings and photographs are good and the Ianguage is clear. WILLIAM SAUNDERS, M.D. Diseases of the Esophagus. By J. Terracol, Professor of the FacuIty of Medicine of MontpelIier, France, and Richard H. Sweet, M.D., Associate ClinicaI Professor of Surgery, Harvard MedicaI School, Boston, Mass. 682 pages, 408 iIIustrations, 4 in color. W. B. Saunders Co. PhiIadeIphia, 1958. Price $20.00.
This is the first compIete and authoritative presentation of a subject which in the past ten years has attained its rightfu1 pIace in surgery. Based on the second edition of TerracoI’s “Les Maladies de I’Esophage” pubIished in 195 I, the American author has performed a superb task in transIating the original French work, in deleting controversia1 materia1 and in bringing it up-to-date by adding to it the results of his own extensive surgical experience. This comprehensive treatise on esophageal diseases wiII be of inestimable vaIue not onIy to the endoscopist and thoracic surgeon but aIso to the internist and genera1 surgeon. The first portion of the book deals with the anatomy and physioIogy of the esophagus in a concise manner. The presentation of the bIood suppIy, venous and Iymphatic drainage as we11 as enervation of the esophagus is particuIarIy good. Esophagoscopic and radioIogic examinations of the normal esophagus are we11 discussed, and both diagnostic aids are again American
Journal
of Surgery,
Volume 98, December, 1999
938
presented in reIation to the various medica and surgical disorders of the esophagus in subsequent chapters. The portion of the book deaIing with foreign bodies and treatment of cicatricia1 stenosis are based on the extensive experience of the French author. There is an exceIIent chapter on esophagea1 substitutions by skin tube, stomach, jejunum and coIon. The authors’ condemnation of the appIication of various foreign body prostheses certainly is appropriate. The pessimism of the physician deaIing with carcinoma of the esophagus is dispeIIed by the resuIts of the senior author, who has had a 20 per cent surviva1 in patients with cervica1 carcinoma, 23 per cent in patients with carcinoma of the mid-thoracic segment and 32 per cent in patients with carcinoma of the Iower esophagus in his “curative resections.” The palIiation obtained by resection of the carcinoma and re-estabIishment of continuity of the esophagus has given Iasting relief to a Iarge number of additional patients. The iIIustrations are superb throughout and are pertinent to the presented materia1. The surgica1 corrections of the various disorders are we11 iIIustrated by diagrams and descriptions. Statistics of the resuIts of surgica1 treatment of various esophagea1 Iesions are incIuded. A vaIuabIe appendix consists of Iists of various diets for patients with dysphagia due to obstruction. The extensive bibliography taken from the 1950 edition of “Les Maladies de I’Esophage” has been intruded together with the pertinent bibliography of the past eight years. We agree with the senior author that no such comprehensive listing can be found eIsewhere in convenient form. The bibIiography is a vaIuabIe addition to this book. The peak of deveIopment of esophageal surgery has been reached in the past ten years and IittIe wiI1 be added in the near future. The authors shouId be congratuIated for their foresight in bringing this book to publication at this time. KARL P. KLASSEN, M.D.
Reviews
Tracheotomy: A Clinical and Experimental Study. By Thomas G. NeIson, M.D. WiIIiam & WiIkins Co. Baltimore, 1958. Price $3.75.
This book shouId be of interest to specialists who perform tracheotomy frequently. The book is too detaiIed and too compIete to interest most genera1 practitioners. The titIe, “Tracheotomy: A CIinical and Experimental Study,” is somewhat misIeading because there is no new material in the book. The experimenta study refers to clinica experiences more than research experiences. The Iist of references is exceIIent. The drawings and photographs are good and the Ianguage is clear. WILLIAM SAUNDERS, M.D. Diseases of the Esophagus. By J. Terracol, Professor of the FacuIty of Medicine of MontpelIier, France, and Richard H. Sweet, M.D., Associate ClinicaI Professor of Surgery, Harvard MedicaI School, Boston, Mass. 682 pages, 408 iIIustrations, 4 in color. W. B. Saunders Co. PhiIadeIphia, 1958. Price $20.00.
This is the first compIete and authoritative presentation of a subject which in the past ten years has attained its rightfu1 pIace in surgery. Based on the second edition of TerracoI’s “Les Maladies de I’Esophage” pubIished in 195 I, the American author has performed a superb task in transIating the original French work, in deleting controversia1 materia1 and in bringing it up-to-date by adding to it the results of his own extensive surgical experience. This comprehensive treatise on esophageal diseases wiII be of inestimable vaIue not onIy to the endoscopist and thoracic surgeon but aIso to the internist and genera1 surgeon. The first portion of the book deals with the anatomy and physioIogy of the esophagus in a concise manner. The presentation of the bIood suppIy, venous and Iymphatic drainage as we11 as enervation of the esophagus is particuIarIy good. Esophagoscopic and radioIogic examinations of the normal esophagus are we11 discussed, and both diagnostic aids are again American
Journal
of Surgery,
Volume 98, December, 1999
938
presented in reIation to the various medica and surgical disorders of the esophagus in subsequent chapters. The portion of the book deaIing with foreign bodies and treatment of cicatricia1 stenosis are based on the extensive experience of the French author. There is an exceIIent chapter on esophagea1 substitutions by skin tube, stomach, jejunum and coIon. The authors’ condemnation of the appIication of various foreign body prostheses certainly is appropriate. The pessimism of the physician deaIing with carcinoma of the esophagus is dispeIIed by the resuIts of the senior author, who has had a 20 per cent surviva1 in patients with cervica1 carcinoma, 23 per cent in patients with carcinoma of the mid-thoracic segment and 32 per cent in patients with carcinoma of the Iower esophagus in his “curative resections.” The palIiation obtained by resection of the carcinoma and re-estabIishment of continuity of the esophagus has given Iasting relief to a Iarge number of additional patients. The iIIustrations are superb throughout and are pertinent to the presented materia1. The surgica1 corrections of the various disorders are we11 iIIustrated by diagrams and descriptions. Statistics of the resuIts of surgica1 treatment of various esophagea1 Iesions are incIuded. A vaIuabIe appendix consists of Iists of various diets for patients with dysphagia due to obstruction. The extensive bibliography taken from the 1950 edition of “Les Maladies de I’Esophage” has been intruded together with the pertinent bibliography of the past eight years. We agree with the senior author that no such comprehensive listing can be found eIsewhere in convenient form. The bibIiography is a vaIuabIe addition to this book. The peak of deveIopment of esophageal surgery has been reached in the past ten years and IittIe wiI1 be added in the near future. The authors shouId be congratuIated for their foresight in bringing this book to publication at this time. KARL P. KLASSEN, M.D.