REVIEW OF RECENT BOOKS

Manual of Cardiac Surgery, Vol1 Edited by Bradley 1. Harlan, Albert Starr, M.D., and Fredric M . Harwin New York, Springer-Verlag, 1980 204 p p , illustrated, $1 12

Reviewed by William Y . Moores, M.D.

This volume is part of a series of manuals on opera- tive techniques in all of the surgical subspecialties; the series attempts to update the technical aspects of surgical practice and to provide information regard- ing diagnosis and ancillary nonoperative aspects. The editorial note and prefaces describe the medi- cal illustrations and the depiction of ”surgical stratagems” as the basis for publishing a new and expensive set of operative manuals. The reader is given some insight into the illustration process in a preface written by the illustrator along with the au- thors.

This volume concentrates on general aspects of cardiac surgery (e.g., anesthesia, cardiopulmonary by- pass, use of cardioactive medications), and provides a detailed and well-illustrated sequence on coronary bypass grafting procedures, mitral valve replace- ment, and the simple congenital heart operations not requiring cardiopulmonary bypass. Operations on the aortic valve and congenital procedures requiring cardiopulmonary bypass are left for a second volume. This two-volume approach does not allow the cardiac surgeon dealing primarily with an adult practice to purchase only volume 1, nor does it allow the con- genital heart surgeon specialist to obtain all of the operative information from volume 2. Since the manuals are expensive, this division may not be the most economical for those limiting their practice to adults or children.

The sections are comprehensive, but since the text is short some subjects receive only a cursory treat- ment. The anesthesia section devotes only a little more than four lines to the use of halothane anes- thesia in cardiac surgery. There are, of course, other books that deal exclusively with cardiac anesthesia, and in view of this it would seem questionable whether there should be texts on the various anes- thetic agents at all. On the other hand, the section on myocardial preservation is well written and in- formative, and skillfully condenses the vast contem- porary literature on this topic. This section, further- more, examines the whole field, from coronary per- fusion to normothermic ischemic arrest, and is not limited to the currently popular field of cardioplegic myocardial preservation. It is followed by a 125-item bibliography that includes recent publications.

The greatest contribution of the book is in illus- trating the various operations. The illustrations, all in full color and in a style most often associated with Frank H. Netter, do clearly depict the procedures. The accompanying text is comprehensive and clearly written, and describes operative techniques that are sound and, I believe, in the mainstream of current surgical practice. The descriptions are detailed, and a few operations are covered well. However, the list of procedures covered is small and includes only coro- nary artery bypass procedures, mitral valve repair and replacement, patent ductus arteriosus ligation, coarctation repair, and two systemic pulmonary shunts (Blalock-Taussig and Waterston).

The book provides an attractively packaged collec- tion of operative illustrations with a collection of well-developed principles that, if followed, should assist the practicing cardiac surgeon in achieving good results. The high price ($112.00) combined with the limited number of actual procedures illustrated constitutes the book’s principal shortcoming.

San Diego, CA

Cardiology Update 1981 Edited by Elliot Xapaport, M.D. New York, Elsevier North Holland, 2982 392 p p , illustrated, $29.95

Reviewed by l a r y W. Stephenson, M.D.

Cardiology Update reviews current advances in the diagnosis and therapeutics of various cardiac disor- ders. Topics are covered from both the cardiological and cardiac surgical standpoint, and include coro- nary artery spasm, coronary artery bypass graft- ing, myocardial preservation, aortic dissection, and pacemakers. Various diagnostic procedures such as cardiac emissive tomography, ambulatory elec- trocardiographic monitoring, computerized inter- pretation of electrocardiograms, and phonocardiog- raphy are evaluated. There are current reviews of pharmacological therapy and recently published clinical trials for hypertension and cardiac ar- rhythmias.

This book is a valuable adjunct for both car- diologists and surgeons. It is a ready reference for patient care and a good source of current references for the preparation of conferences and manuscripts.

Philadelphia, PA

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