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Show Journal of Nemo- Ophthalmology 16( 1): 73- 76, 1996. © 1996 Lippincott- Raven Publishers, Philadelphia Book Reviews Atlas of Clinical Ophthalmology, 2nd edition, edited by David J. Spalton, Roger A. Hitchings, Paul A. Hunter. Mosby- Year Book, Inc., St. Louis, MO, 1994, $ 149.00. Type of Book: This is a multifocus, large- page format textbook well illustrated with color photographs, line drawings, and schematic diagrams; approximately 25% of the book is dedicated to descriptive text. No single chapter is more than 30 pages; extraordinary care is evident in the provision of miniaturized line drawings to explain the large- format, beautifully reproduced color photographs. Comprehensive in scope, the text is organized around ocular anatomy, although specific subspecialties ( such as strabismus and n e u r ophthalmology) are accorded their own chapters. Scope of Book: The preface explicitly states the purpose of the text: to provide a " collection of carefully selected and high quality illustrations [ which are] encountered in clinical practice." Clinical information is provided, with illustrations of relevant embryology, physiology, and pathology. There is intentional overlap of basic science and clinical details. The level of complexity is appropriate for the persistent and curious medical student or early resident, or to the general practitioner wishing greater familiarity with ophthalmic disease. Contents: The book is divided into 20 sections, with variation in each section's level of detail. For example, the introductory chapter " Methods of Ocular Examination" provides a wealth of beautifully illustrated aspects of color vision, perimetric devices, the optical principles of common ophthalmic instruments, and the output of electrophysiological and ocular imaging devices. The chapter on neuro- ophthalmology may be too pedestrian for the neuro- ophthalmic community, but is rich in clinical examples, illustrating disorders of motility, underlying neuroanatomic abnormalities, the obligatory schematics of neural pathways, and neuroradiologic correlations. Strengths: The book is a marvel of contemporary publishing wizardry. The illustrations are of uniformly high quality. The editors and publishers are to be especially commended for the inclusion of detailed, miniaturized line drawings based on the Barrett Katz, MD adjacent photograph, making identification of subtle points easy. The atlas serves well as an exemplar of " ophthalmology as the queen of the visual sciences," with easy and pleasing readability. A 35- mm slide atlas format ( with all included figures) is available from the publisher- at substantial cost- divided into volumes, each bound with numbered slides of each illustration. This makes an outstanding primary ophthalmic instructional slide collection, suitable for the teaching of ophthalmology to physicians and health professionals. Weaknesses: Since the intention of the atlas is to provide a high- quality collection of the panorama of ophthalmic disease, with correlations to systemic illness and the basic sciences, the book has succeeded admirably. Because the chapters themselves are short, there is sufficient detail only to orient the interested student or young resident in training- not enough to provide a comprehensive understanding of any of the areas covered. Some of the chapters are more clinically relevant and comprehensive than others ( such as the excellent chapters on vascular diseases of the retina, and macular diseases and retinal dystrophies). Few illustration errors were appreciated; some of the text information is ethnocentric, such as the epidemiology of glaucoma, which discusses population trends of intraocular pressure- but which are not necessarily accurate for Asian populations. Recommended Audience: This book would be valuable for medical students or early ophthalmology residents, or for general practitioners with an interest in ophthalmology. It would likely be a frequently used " perusal text" in the reference section of an ophthalmology or general medical library. Critical Appraisal: The text fulfills its promise as an outstanding atlas of primary ophthalmology, suitable for teaching and demonstration to ophthalmologists and non- ophthalmologists, physicians, or allied health professionals; it is not meant to be all- inclusive or encyclopaedic; it is planned as a sophisticated and elegant show- and- tell, and succeeds admirably. Marc Lieberman, M. D. California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco, California 73 74 BOOK REVIEWS Advances in Clinical Ophthalmology, edited by Ronald M. Burde and Thomas L. Slamovits. Mosby- Year Book Inc., St. Louis, MO, 1994, $ 87.95. Type of Book: Advances in Clinical Ophthalmology is the first of a planned annual series. It consists of 13 illustrated reviews by numerous authors, many associated with the Department of Ophthalmology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Scope of Book: Controversial and evolving aspects of contemporary ophthalmology are addressed, with an emphasis on newer treatment modalities. Contents: Subjects reviewed range from techniques of cataract surgery to immunohistochemis-try in ophthalmic pathologic diagnosis, and include macular degeneration and holes, mucous membrane grafts to the conjunctiva, and laboratory methods in external ocular disease. Each review is accompanied by an extensive bibliography. Of most interest to neuro- ophthalmologists are sections on traumatic optic neuropathy, the ophthalmologist's role in facial paralysis, and the treatment of normal- tension glaucoma. The two editors- in- chief and their fellow combine to produce a definitive review of traumatic optic nerve disease. In their section on future therapies of traumatic injury, we learn that the pharmacological armamentarium may soon include laz-aroids, vitamin E, and 2- methaminochromans, excitatory amino acid antagonists, GM1 ganglio-sides, and thromboxane receptor antagonists. Animal models have been developed, and low- energy laser irradiation shown to delay post- traumatic degeneration of the optic nerve; applicability to human disease is uncertain. Elliot Werner provides a practical " guide for the perplexed" of the treatment of normal- tension glaucoma, bypassing the most difficult issue of correct diagnosis. Strengths: This is a well- produced book, with glossy paper and fine illustrations, several in color. The quality of exposition is remarkably consistent and evinces considerable editorial effort. Weaknesses: In some instances the management of a complicated situation appears oversimplified; in others, an individual's judgment or opinion appears as unqualified fact. Occasionally, generalities occur where the clinician needs more specific information. In the section on suprachoroidal hemorrhage, the statement is made that blood pressure should be adequately controlled before surgery is commenced and that " the surgeon should delay the surgery until the blood pressure is controlled rather than risk a catastrophic hemorrhage." What is adequate control? Is it acceptable to operate on a patient with a blood pressure of 140/ 95? 150/ 100? 180/ 110? Recommended Audience: The broad focus makes it difficult to define a readership; most ophthalmologists should find something of interest. Each chapter can be consulted individually as a timely review of its particular subject, and stands alone. Critical Appraisal: This is a useful addition to the literature and should find a place in departmental and medical school libraries. John W. Gittinger, Jr., M. D. University of Massachusetts School of Medicine Worcester, Massachusetts Retina, 2nd edition, 3 vols., edited by Stephen J. Ryan. Mosby- Yearbook, Inc., St. Louis, MO, 1994, $ 395.00. Type of Book: A multi- authored three- volume text covering aspects of the posterior segment of the eye, including medical and surgical retina, posterior segment inflammation, tumors, and anatomy and physiology. Scope of Book: The book is the gold standard reference on vitreoretinal disease, now in its second edition. The 161 chapters by 187 authors cover an exhaustive range of topics. A further 10 chapters have been added from the original edition. Contents: Chapters are divided into three volumes, with 2559 pages of text. Volume 1 is titled " Basic Science and Inherited Retinal Diseases, Tumors", volume 2 " Medical Retina", and volume 3 " Surgical Retina." Strengths: The use of multiple authors allows this book to be more than a literature review, with eminent clinicians and scientists writing in their fields of particular expertise. The length allows the textbook to be comprehensive and definitive, with both basic science and clinical depth. Of special interest to the neuro- ophthalmologist will be the chapters on anatomy and physiology, visual psy-chophysics, genetics of eye disease, tumors of the retina, and optic nerve disease. Weaknesses: More editorial input is required to minimize duplication inherent in this multi-authored text. The chapters on retinal dystrophies are disappointing. Oddly, " Macular Dystrophies" is included in a completely separate volume from other dystrophies; it is long ( at 53 pages) yet contains no information on identified chromosomal abnormalities ( such as the peripherin mutation), an area of explosive growth. The chapter " Retinitis J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1996 BOOK REVIEWS 75 Pigmentosa and Allied Disorders" is overly long, at 130 pages; the chapter employs many cases to illustrate various subtleties of retinitis pigmentosa and differential diagnoses; less phenomenologic characterizations await future editions. The organization of chapters could be strengthened. Aspects of choroidal circulation are covered in chapters 2 and 8, and retinal pigment epithelial function in chapters 6 and 9. Ideally, related chapters would follow sequentially. Recommended Audience: Established ophthalmologists in vitreoretinal practice and vitreoretinal fellows should consider owning Retina. It is very much a reference source, not a book to read cover-to- cover by residents seeking an overview. This edition should be available in all serious ophthalmic libraries. Critical Appraisal: This is an expensive textbook; with the first edition published in 1989, and not all chapters having undergone substantive revision, those owning the first edition might not view purchase of the second as offering sufficient return for the outlay. The current edition, however, like the previous, remains the benchmark vitreoretinal reference text and generally fulfills the editor- in-chief's aim of a " thorough compilation of our current knowledge about the retina"; it is the Walsh and Hoyt of retinal disease. Alan Luckie, FRACO Royal Victoria Hospital Melbourne, Australia Books in brief Barrett Katz, MD Principles of Neurology, 5th edition, by Raymond D. Adams and Maurice Victor. McGraw- Hill Inc., New York, 1994, $ 75.00. When the first edition of Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology appeared, it intruded upon the domain of general texts in neurology authored by Houston Merritt and Lord Brain. This fifth edition establishes the book as the definitive one-volume overview of neurologic disease. Drs. Adams and Victor, raised in the Denny- Brown classicism of neurology, have Written an outstanding text that is comprehensive, well organized, well illustrated, and well indexed. The text is characterized by presentations of phenomenology, cardinal manifestations of disease, an exposition of the symptoms and signs of neurologic dysfunction with their anatomic and physiologic bases, and relevant clinical implications. Discussions are placed in their larger context, and processes related to like and dissimilar ones. This makes for an intuitively comfortable approach to neurologic disease and the learning thereof. The text is marked by significant psychiatric discussions and effects of alcoholism ( two special interests of the authors) as well as major topics of muscle disease; developmental and hereditary metabolic diseases; growth, maturation, and aging of the nervous system; and the usual categories of neurologic dysfunction. There are timely discussions of recombinant DNA techniques, and illustrations of SPECT, PET, and MR technology. As is true for the Denny- Brown school of neurology generally, the weakness here is in n e u r ophthalmology; the chapter on common disturbances of vision is but 15 pages long. When Maurice Victor used to lecture, he would often hold up a key from his pocket, and say, slowly and deliberately, " This . . . this is Yale's only contribution to clinical neurology." With the fifth edition of Principles of Neurology, Dr. Victor has evidence that Dartmouth's contribution to neurology far surpasses that of Yale's. Neuroimaging, a companion to Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology, edited by Jack O. Greenberg. McGraw- Hill, Inc., New York, 1995, $ 115.00. This text is purported to be a companion volume to Adams and Victor's Principles in Neurology. It has over 1,600 illustrations, offering more complete depiction of the range and value of neurora-diologic techniques in clinical neurology. This compendium is assembled by clinicians who write about the use of imaging in their various areas of expertise. The organization of the book is unique among neuroradiologic atlases; admirable in its intent, such organization may be conceptually flawed for an atlas. The book only casually follows the chapters in Adams and Victor's text. Furthermore, not every chapter in Adams and Victor has a correlate, and not every process discussed in the text is illustrated. Nonetheless, some contributions are exceptional; especially so the chapters on " Disturbances of CSF Circulation," " Pain," and " Headache and Other Craniofacial Pains." The index is adequate and the captions brief. The task / Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1996 76 BOOK REVIEWS attempted by the editors is worthwhile, and the volume can be used, albeit with difficulty, to supplement Adams and Victor's book. The authors and editors are to be commended for the " Special Section on Specific Imaging Modalities," and their willingness to depart from the usual organization of radiologic atlases. [CFpregnancy] Neurologic Complications of Pregnancy, Advances in Neurology, Volume 64, by Orrin Devinsky, Edward Feldmann, and Brian Hain-line. Raven Press, New York, 1994, $ 90.00. This is the 64th volume in the Advances in Neurology series. It is ably edited and expertly assembled by clinicians with experience in taking care of pregnant women with both acute and chronic neurologic disease. The topics are timely, and of interest to both ophthalmologists and neurologists. The volume includes discussions of pregnancy as it relates to stroke, epilepsy, migraine, multiple sclerosis, and central nervous system neoplasms. There is especial attention to the neurodiagnostic imaging of the pregnant patient, and legal issues in preventing fetal harm. The major deficiency in this monograph is the absence of a chapter devoted to the ophthalmic manifestations of pregnancy. Nonetheless, this book offers an original contribution of a meta- analysis of the available data on multiple sclerosis during pregnancy. This alone justifies its acquisition. The text is well written, comprehensive, current, and well referenced. It is a monograph to be welcomed, and read; it will be both. It affords the clinician with an interest in neuro- ophthalmology reviews upon which practical recommendations and clinical decisions can be made when caring for the pregnant patient. / Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1996 |