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Atlas of Cardiac Surgery David H. Dillard and Donald W. Miller Jr.

Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983; 268 pp.: L72.00

Several years ago I and some of my colleagues were involved in seeking to write a book which

we were going to call an “Atlas of Cardiac Surgery”. Our attempts to complete the book

foundered for a variety of reasons, not least our inability to balance correctly good diagrammatic material with a good text.

It is with mixed feelings. but overall great pleasure that I have had the opportunity to review David Dillard and Donald Miller’s “Atlas of Cardiac Surgery”. These authors have done what we were unable to do - they have produced an excellent series of line drawings and have complemented their drawings with an incisive text which is not only accurate and of high quality in terms of its clinical description and surgical advice, but also contains that

kernel of practical good sense which has come from a long practical experience. Any reader, whether he be senior or junior in the field of cardiac surgery, will gain from

studying the text and drawings in this book. There are fountains of good sense here and I would strongly recommend any training cardiac surgeon to study and to read the text

carefully. I like the way the authors have introduced some recent references and made brief

comment upon them. It is a possible point of criticism that they have selected only some of the topics on which to perform this sort of critical analysis of recent work. The selection reflects the authors’ interest in particular areas, especially of congenital heart disease and it is

no bad thing in a book for some feeling of the personality and interest of the author to

emerge. Finally, I can commend Dr. Dillard on the quality of the drawings for which he has been

solely responsible. I know how very difficult the portrayal of operative technique in diagram-

matic form is and Dr. Dillard is to be strongly congratulated. I have had the pleasure of meeting him and he did not let on that this was one of his skills.

In conclusion, this book is to be recommended strongly. It is not over-priced and I admire

the effort and skill of the authors.

Guy’s Hospital London, U.K. Philip B. Deverall

Clinical Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiology Clive Rosendorff Raven Press, New York, 1983: 382 pp.; $22.00; ISBN 0-89004-919-X

This book was written with the aim of providing a clinically relevant text on cardiovascular and respiratory physiology. It is aimed at medical students, both preclinical and clinical, as

well as at postgraduate diploma students. It differs from most other physiology texts in its strong clinical bias and in that it deals with both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

Throughout the book, the emphasis is on describing how disordered physiology can explain various disease processes. The first section of the book is concerned with the cardiovascular system. The early chapters deal with fluid dynamics and the control of the heart. The chapter on cardiac electrophysiology and the electrocardiogram is particularly

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good. A major part of the cardiovascular section deals with the pathophysiology of valvular

diseases of the heart, heart failure, hypertension and shock. The treatment of the respiratory system is relatively similar. The early chapters deal with

lung mechanics control of ventilation, pulmonary circulation and the problems of ventilation

and perfusion balance, and gas transport by the blood. Later chapters deal with more applied topics including respiratory function in lung disease and the problems of respiratory failure.

In general, I found this to be an excellent book which has a new and refreshing approach to physiology. It is clearly written and contains many illuminating diagrams and useful

summaries at the end of each chapter. It should appeal particularly to medical students who sometimes find difficulty in understanding why they should study physiology at all. It is likely also to be of use to non-medical physiology teachers who have to explain the clinical relevance of physiology to medical students.

There are a number of limitations to this book. Although applied topics are well covered, I would like to have seen rather more detail on some aspects of normal physiology. For example, although the cardiovascular changes in heart failure and hypertension are covered at length, there is very little on the changes which occur during normal activities such as postural changes and exercise. Other deficiencies include scant treatment of the important topic of the control of perfusion of the various regions, and there is a one paragraph dismissal of the

baroreceptor reflex. Serious students of physiology will need this text to be supplemented by one which describes the normal physiology in rather more detail. They will also require at least a measure of supporting evidence for the various mechanisms described and. perhaps, even the occasional original experimental record!

In conclusion, this is an excellent book, which adequately describes most of the basic

cardiovascular and respiratory physiology. and describes a variety of disease processes in terms of disordered physiology. While it will be of value to all students, and particularly medical students, some of the more basic sections could be expanded and some of the more enquiring students will demand evidence for the mechanisms proposed.

University of Leeds Leeds, U.K. Roger Hainsworth

Textbook of Two-Dimensional Echocardiography Editors: James V. Taleno and Julius M. Gardin

Grune and Stratton, New York, 1983; 435 pp.; $45.00

Clinical Two-Dimensional Echocardiography Editors: Fred N. Nasser and Emilio R. Giuliani

Year Book Medical Publishers, Chicago/London, 1983; 274 pp.; 230.00

The past 18 months have seen the publication of a large number of books which deal with the increasing role of cross-sectional echoqrdiography in cardiology. These two books show two entirely different approaches to this topic.

Taleno and Gardin have produced a textbook on echocardiography which attempts to be all-encompassing, providing coverage of both the adult and paediatric fields. The book contains some 18 chapters each by different invited authors. It is a well laid-out book in which they not only give their own experience but review the published literature up to