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Show BOOK REVIEWS Walsh & Hoyt's Clinical Neuro- Ophthalmology, 6th Edition Neil R. Miller, MD, Nancy J. Newman, MD, Valerie Biousse, MD and John B. Kerrison, MD, Editors. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 2005. ISBN: 0- 7817- 4814- 3, $ 699 Scope: This is the sixth edition of the encyclopedia of neuro- ophthalmology It has no peer. First appearing in 1947 as a compendium of case files from the meticulous observations of Dr. Frank B. Walsh, its subsequent editions have kept pace with increasingly scientific and rigorous nature of medical journal publications. Joining Walsh as co- author for the third edition in 1969 was Dr. William F. Hoyt, who fortified the pathophysiologic basis of Dr. Walsh's findings and extended the text from one to three volumes. Dr. Neil R. Miller, a Hoyt trainee, took over as principal author for the fourth edition, rewriting and updating until a 4- volume text emerged, one volume at a time, from 1982 to 1996. Realizing that a single author could no longer manage so much material, Dr. Miller turned to Dr. Nancy J. Newman as a co- editor for the 5th edition. They recruited 60 brand name authors to write 73 chapters. The product was a 5,746- page, five- volume, 33- lb King Kong edition that appeared in 1998 at a purchase price of $ 750. The sixth edition, weighing in at 24 lbs in three volumes and a mere 3,572 pages, is an attempt to produce a more manageable, slightly less expensive ($ 699), yet still comprehensive reference text. Drs. Valerie Biousse and John B. Kerrison have joined as co- editors. There are now 73 authors for 62 chapters. Several of the old chapters have been merged and retitled, but, as best this reviewer can tell from a spotty read, nothing important has been lost. In fact, less may be more, as the fifth edition suffered from information overkill. Volume 1 has the anatomy, physiology, and principles of localization as applied to the visual sensory, ocular motor, trigeminal, and facial ( including eyelid) muscular systems, as well as a chapter on the approach to non- organic neuro- ophthalmic conditions. Volume 2 covers tumors, phacomatoses, and vascular disease, and Volume 3 covers degenerative and metabolic diseases, and infectious, inflammatory, and demyelinating diseases. Each volume has an index that covers the entire 3- volume set. The fifth edition had indices in each volume that covered only the material in that volume. Gone is the separate softcover comprehensive index of the fifth edition. This reader will not miss it; it often got lost. Strengths: The chapters are mostly little masterpieces- well- written, erudite, comprehensive, well- organized, and well- illustrated. The editors have hit on a very sensible way to organize this material. The authors have followed their editors' instructions to plumb the literature- even the non- English literature- for every decent reference. Publication quality is topnotch- attractive, very legible type, well-reproduced illustrations, and assiduous attention to matching text citations with reference lists. I could find no mistakes. Weaknesses: There really aren't any. This is still an expensive series, but like the Encyclopedia Britannica or The New York Times, where else will you get the whole story? Recommended Audience: Every university library will have to own it. It probably should be on the shelf of libraries of basic and clinical neuroscience departments and schools of optometry. Practitioners of neurology, neurosurgery, and neuro- ophthalmology who do not have ready access to such libraries will also want one. Critical Appraisal: Like its earlier editions, a classic in the field. There is simply no other source for comprehensive information in neuro- ophthalmology. Many of the chapters are better than comparable ones in leading textbooks of neurology and neurosurgery. Jonathan D. Trobe, MD University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences Michael J. Aminoff, MD and Robert B. Daroff, MD, Editors. Academic Press, San Diego, 2003. ISBN: 0- 12- 226870- 9, $ 1,495.00 Scope: In addition to the two editors- in- chief ( Aminoff and Daroff), this encyclopedia has 26 associate editors and over 900 individual contributors. It provides a comprehensive source of over 1,000 succinct topics in the neurosciences, arranged in alphabetical order. Presented in a form understandable to students and laypersons, it is current and accurate so that researchers or clinicians can update themselves about specific areas of interest. Entries relate to the following topics: clinical neurology, neurosurgery, neuro- anatomy, neurobiology, neuro- epidemiology, neuro- endocrinology, neurogenetics, neuro- imaging, 252 I Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005 Book Reviews J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005 neurotoxicology, neuro- immunology, neuropharmacology, pediatric neurology, neuro- oncology, neuropathology, developmental neurology, behavioral neurology, neurophysiology, applied electrophysiology neuro- ophthalmology neurotology, pain, psychiatry, psychopharmacology, rehabilitation, critical care medicine, and the history of the neurosciences. Most sections are a few pages long and are accompanied by one or two high- quality black and white illustrations or tables. For example, the very first section in Volume 1 ( by Eric Eggenberger, MD) is entitled " Abducens Nerve" and is 4M> pages long with 3 MRI examples and a 3- D computed tomographic reconstruction of clival destruction from chordoma. Appearing at the end of each section is a " See Also" list for further references which, for abducens nerve, includes references to all the other cranial nerves, " diplopia," and " strabismus." There are then a few recommendations for " Further Reading" which are usually review articles, books, and other resources. Each volume begins with a set of excellent- quality color illustrations that include histopathology, MRI, anatomic diagrams, and other explanatory schemes and pathways. Strengths: The strengths of this book are the wide range of topics covered in a consistent manner by experts in each field. Weaknesses: The book is extraordinarily expensive. Also, as is common with multivolume works, the index only appears in the last volume ( volume 4). I would have preferred a complete index in every volume or to have the index in its own volume. This book lends itself more readily to CD-ROM or web access than to print. Recommended Audience: All the way from undergraduates to full professors. It is a " must" acquisition for well- endowed medical libraries, including departmental ones. Critical Appraisal: I enjoyed this book and will refer to it on a regular basis in the future. Robert L. Tomsak, MD, PhD University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case School of Medicine Cleveland, Ohio Current Therapy in Neurologic Disease, 6th Edition Richard T. Johnson, MD, John W. Griffin, MD, and Justin C. McArthur, MBBS, MPH. Mosby, Inc, Philadelphia, 2001. ISBN: 0- 323- 01472- 0, $ 89.00 Scope: This is the sixth edition of a multi- authored hardcover text that addresses the management of neurologic diseases. It provides expert opinion to general-ists on how a specialist treats neurologic illness. The text is organized into 18 sections of diseases. Within each are chapters dealing with specific entities such as epilepsy, movement disorders, headache, and cerebrovascular disease are dealt with separately. The text is complemented with tables and flow diagrams designed to simplify and summarize material. Each chapter provides a brief review of the topic before addressing therapies. Less attention is paid to rare entities. Readers are directed to more formal texts for discussions of etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations. Strengths: Concise descriptions of neurologic processes and their treatment. Charts and tables are easy to read and provide a guiding framework. Weaknesses: Some unevenness because of its multi-authored approach. There is no summary given for each subsection and no discussion in working through a differential diagnosis. The clinician has to know the diagnosis to find a discussion of its therapy. Topics not covered include many of interest to neuro- ophthalmologists, such as papilledema, cranial nerve palsies, and multiple sclerosis. Recommended Audience: This book is most appropriately directed towards primary care providers or general neurologists who want a focused approach to disease management. It is also well suited to non- neurology specialists who want further insight into current practice patterns of therapy. Critical Appraisal: This is an easy- to- read, easy- to- follow text that provides useful information for the common treatment of common neurologic disease. A general audience will benefit from its nuts and bolts approach to management and will find it a useful addition to their library of neurologic literature. Eric Berman, MD Sarasota, Florida The Oculomotor and Vestibular Systems: Their Function and Disorders Thomas Brandt, Bernard Cohen, Christopher Siebold, Editors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 2003. ISBN: 1- 57331- 482- X, $ 140.00 ( Member Price: $ 15.00) 253 J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005 Book Reviews Scope: Constituting the proceedings from the Third International Ocular Motor Meeting, " Physiology and Disorders of Oculomotor and Vestibular Control," held in the Bavarian Alps in April 2003 in honor of Ulrich Buttner, this volume contains seven sections of free papers and one of poster papers. The topics include basic physiologic mechanisms, adaptation and plasticity, brainstem and cerebellar control, cortical processing, spatial orientation and attention, and disease states. The subject matter ranges from anatomy, neurophysiology, adaptation of the VOR and saccades, mathematical modeling, and a relatively small contribution on investigation of clinical disorders. The topics of interest for clinicians include description of the physiology of the eyelid motor system, identification of inhibitory premotor neurons contributing to generation of vertical eye movements, a model of shared brainstem pathways for saccades and smooth- pursuit eye movements, elucidation of the organization of proprioceptors in extraocular muscles, a model of otolith control of three-dimensional binocular eye position, the potential role of disinhibition of the cerebellar fastigial nuclei in the generation of opsoclonus, analysis of small amplitude fast eye movements in disorders characterized by slow saccades, and the opposite effect of nicotine on downbeat nystagmus with or without associated cerebellar disease. Strengths: In a relatively small volume, the various aspects of contemporary oculomotor and vestibular research are exemplified. Weaknesses: To appreciate fully the ramifications of the reported research may require a more thorough understanding of the properties of the oculomotor and vestibular system than can be provided in the short introduction to each paper. Recommended Audience: This book provides a useful update for those interested but not necessarily immersed in the fine detail of oculomotor and vestibular research and would be a useful introduction to anyone wishing to become involved. Clinicians may find the complexity of some of the research protocols and results rather daunting! They will also find relatively little that can be applied directly to clinical practice but will still be able to recognize how much progress is being made. Critical Appraisal: The continuing achievements of talented scientists researching the oculomotor and vestibular systems are clearly and comprehensively recorded. Paul Riordan- Eva, FRCOphth King's College Hospital London, United Kingdom Genetics for Ophthalmologists: The Molecular Genetic Basis of Ophthalmic Disorders Graeme C. M. Black, PhD. FRCOphth Remedica Publishing, London, 2002. ISBN: 1- 901346- 20- X, $ 40.00 Scope: A 3A inch paperback of glossy/ heavy paper, this book catalogues ophthalmic disorders with a known genetic basis. It is one of a series about genetics in a single medical specialty written for the clinician who wants an easily accessible resource. Each disorder has information about its reference site within Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, ( OMIM), the database catalog of human genes and genetic disorders authored and edited by Dr. Victor A. McKusick. Each discussion includes a summary of mode of inheritance, ocular and systemic clinical features, age at onset, mutational spectrum, effects of mutations, diagnosis, and whether or not genetic testing is readily available or helpful. There is an excellent 42- page glossary of genetic terms followed by a listing of relevant genetic abbreviations. Strengths: This is an up- to- date reference with good clinical photographs that nicely complement the text. It provides summary descriptions of genetic processes that affect the eye. Weaknesses: One almost needs a genetic primer to make sense of all the information presented in the description of each disorder, and although reading the glossary helps, the genetics information may be beyond the understanding of most ophthalmologists. Recommended Audience: Pediatric or general ophthalmologists would appreciate this book as a fund of information to share with patients about genetic disorders. It would be less useful to aneuro- ophthalmologist, although it contains relevant information about a number of neuro-ophthalmic disorders, such as dominant optic atrophy, neurofibromatosis, septo- optic dysplasia, myotonic dystrophy, and mitochondrial diseases. Critical Appraisal: Because new information is acquired so quickly about the genetics of these diseases, such a book soon becomes outdated. Nonetheless, the information presented here is accessible and usable. Read in its entirety, the book is comprehensive and digestible for anyone interested in the genetics of ophthalmic diseases. Lyn A. Sedwick, MD Orlando, Florida 254 © 2005 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Book Reviews J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005 Seeing Karen K. DeValois, PhD ( Ed.). Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 2000. ISBN: 0- 12- 443760- 5, $ 89.95 Scope: Several physiological psychologists and visual behavioral scientists have combined their collective research backgrounds to compile an excellent monograph on the perception and cognition of sight. The text is divided into eight progressive chapters that lead the reader through the complex area of visual perception and how our brains " see" the world. Retinal image formation comprises the first chapter and is an excellent review of optics through neural sampling of the retinal images. Chapter 2 takes the images from the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells to the visual cortex. Chapters 3- 8 progressively build on this base to present the subjects of spatial vision, color vision, binocular vision, seeing motion, the neural representation of shape and visual attention, each subject allotted its own chapter. Strengths: This is an excellent textbook for all visual scientists and clinicians interested in visual electrophysi-ology, higher cortical function, and the psychophysiology of perception and cognition. It contains a wealth of information gleaned from the numerous studies into visual behavior. It also deciphers optical illusions from a neuro-physiological viewpoint. Weaknesses: Because this is a dynamic field of research that advances rapidly with functional imaging studies such as fMRI, PET, and SPECT, this book will have to be updated every few years. There is no mention of mERG or mVEP, which ought to have a larger emphasis in future revisions. Recommended Audience: This is an excellent textbook for the graduate research student in physiological psychology, visual behavior, perception, and cognition. It will also serve well in the library of the visual scientist who has either a research or a clinical interest in higher cortical function. Critical Appraisal: The editor has done a wonderful job of assembling a distinguished group of visual scientists to produce a handbook with valuable background research information on visual psychophysiology. I found the mathematics daunting but well- explained. This book will have a long life as long as appropriate revisions include human dynamic studies to correlate with the previous animal studies. August L. Reader, III, MD, FACS California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco, California 255 |