Manual of perioperative care in cardiac surgery, 3rd edition. written by Robert M Bojar, md, Kenneth...

breast cancer research as they apply to therapeutics,an approach that has been missing in the recentliterature.

Manual of Perioperative Care in Cardiac Surgery,3rd Edition. Written by Robert M Bojar, MD, Ken-neth G Warner, MD. 624 pages, illustrated. $49.95.Boston: Blackwell Science Inc, 1999.

Reviewed by Sanjay Mehta, MD

This third edition textbook, previously released in1994, provides a thorough yet succinct outline cov-ering the spectrum of topics common to the manage-ment of the cardiac surgery patient. The aim is toprovide a current reference that includes informationthat is complete, concise, and pertinent to all cardiacsurgery patient caregivers. The manual effectivelymeets the stated goals of the authors, providing anexcellent reference for topics pertinent to the care ofthese patients.

The book is written for students, residents, prac-titioners, and extended caregivers and covers topicspertinent to all levels of care. The authors’ experiencewith the two previous editions of this textbook en-hances the depth, relevance, and utility of the infor-mation provided in this updated manual.

Preoperative work-up, operative management,and perioperative care are covered extensively andeffectively in this handbook. The goal of providing amanual covering these subjects is met in concise,thorough, and well-referenced chapters. A completelist of topics concerning the many facets of managingboth adult and pediatric cardiac surgical patients ispresented. Additionally, a number of appendixes areincluded, covering various topics including medica-tions and procedures common to this population ofpatients.

This textbook is a complete manual for studentsand practitioners involved in the care of cardiac sur-gery patients. The current edition forgoes previouslycovered non-cardiac thoracic surgery topics, thusproviding a complete presentation of cardiac surgery

issues within the confines of a handbook. Similartextbooks exist, however, this manual appears to pro-vide the most complete and updated review of topicsdedicated to the care of these patients. Caregivers ofall levels are likely to benefit by keeping this manualreadily available to assist with the management ofroutine and complex patients.

Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hos-pitals. Written by Guenter B Risse, MD, PhD. 716pages, illustrated. $39.95. New York: Oxford Uni-versity Press Inc, 1999.

Reviewed by Robert L Martensen, MD, PhD

Using 12 clinical episodes, this is the story of thehospital in Western culture from ancient Greecethrough the Enlightenment to the high-tech hospitaland ambulatory clinics of the late 20th century. Theworld of historical meanings associated with hospitallife and patients is explicated through the explorationof continuity and change in the mission and practiceof hospitals in key areas of social role, therapeutics,and professional and patient space. Physicians,nurses, hospital administrative staff, and historiansare the intended audience.

Using the device of patient experience (often ex-tended) to introduce each of the book’s 12 chaptersdistinguishes this book from other histories of thehospital. This is history with a patient’s voice, whichmakes it possible for contemporary readers to recovera sense of past meanings for patients and providers inhospital settings.

This book, carefully documented and repletewith important detail, will be the standard referencefor the “long history” of the Western hospital. It be-longs on the shelf with other excellent works thathave focused on 19th and 20th century hospitals,notably Rosenberg’s The care of strangers: The rise ofAmerica’s hospital system (Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 1995) and Stevens’ In sickness and in wealth:American hospitals in the twentieth century (JohnsHopkins University Press, 1999).

641Vol. 189, No. 6, December 1999 Book Reviews