BOOK REVIEWS 645

HEART: A PHYSIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL STUDY OF CARLIIOVA~CULAR DISEASES. Hy .Udcl A. Luisada. Ed. 2. Baltimore, 1954, The Williams i3 Wilkins Company.

The reviewer of the initial edition of this book (October, 1951) found that it presented impli-

cations and conclusions at some variance with classical concepts. Such differences of opinion

may often be refreshing or productive. These features in the present edition may be condoned.

Not so, however, the inaccurate presentation of factual data or the introduction of opinion as

fact. In the chronology presented in the opening chapter, for example, the unipolar elecrro- cardiogram is credited to Goldberger rather than to its true originator. Angina pectoris is de-

scribed as a precordial pain; nothing is said about its classical location in the substernal region. X pericardial friction rub is stated to be present in acute myocardial infarction only when thr

infarct is anterior in location. The statement that in ventricular sept$l defect the area of cardiac

dullness becomes nearly round betrays a naive faith in the possibilities of cardiac percussioll.

IJnwarranted confidence is placed in the direction of transmission of murmurs in determining their significance. (The focal glomerulonephritis of Loehlein, and not the diffuse glomerulo-

nephritis of more recent writers, is considered the most constant renal lesion of subacute bacterial

endocarditis.) The discussion of the electrocardiogram in acute car pulmonale omits menlio!l of transient incomplete right bundle branch block or of the possibility of confusion with acutt

posterior myocardial infarction. In the sections on therapy, papaverine is still presented as nf

value in favoring the establishment of a collateral circulation; this view is no longer tenable. In.- halation of oxygen-alcohol vapor, a treatment in which the author has been interesLeci, i> pre.-

sented as the therapy of choice for acute pulmonary edema; this view is not yet universalI> a<‘-

cepted. One may also disagree with the injunctions that during an acute attark, mercurial< should be limited, or that digitalis should not be given by vein.

The author, for years a student of the mechanical registration of phenomena associated with the heart. beat, exercised admirable restraint in the handling of this general subject. The rt:adil~g

of these sections will be rewarding to the interested reader. Also, this volume serves as an excel- lent introduction to the continental experience and point of view. The sections on tric-u*pitl

disease, for example, are particularly well done.

The uneven quality of this book raises the question whether, in view of the very high degree of specialization and subspecialization current in cardiology, the experience of any observer can

encompass enough of the entire field to enable him, single-handed, to cover the subject authori- tatively or even competently. One would hesitate to reommend this book unreservedly.

H. 1 i. I..

TIE YEARBOOK OF MEDICINE. 1954-55 Series. Chicago, Ill., The Yearbook Publishers.

This annual review of recent literature in the field of internal medicine is a most useful sum-

mary of some of the more significant contributions in this field. The value of such a volume is determined, among other things, by the care used in the selection of articles to be abstracted and

also by the caliber of the critical comment of the editorial staff which follows many of the abstr:uzts.

It is a pleasure to say that the editorial staff have done a fine job in commenting on this series of articles. In general, with some exceptions, the selection of articles that are summarized is a rcpre-

sentative sample of the better contributions in the literature. The section on cardiovasc,ular

disease is an excellent one. The only criticism that might be made of this section is that more articles dealing with a physiologic type of investigative work could have been incorporated.

However, in a volume intended primarily for clinicians, it is inevitable that the major portion of the work considered would be of a clinical rather than a physiologic nature. This book will 1~ (II

interest to cardiologists and to internists generally. 1-l. F:. ii

LA VALV~LA MITRALD. By M. A. Chiechi and Ch. P. Bailey. Roma, 1954, II Pensiero Scientificc), 558 pages and 158 figures. Price 5,000 lire.

This interesting Italian monograph is devoted to the study of the mitral valve. In collabora- tion with Dr. Bailey it has been prepared by Dr. Chiechi, a young Italian surgeon who worked in

New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

646 AMERICAN HEART JOURNAL

The materialanalyzed in this book consists of 7.53 cases studied in detail out of a total of 1,200

cases of mitral valve disease.

The most interesting chapters are: (1) a detailed historical study; (2) a new investigation

on the morphology of the mitral valve in 105 normal hearts which led the authors to the con- clusion that the so-called commissures are either additional small leaflets or continuous endocardial

tissue between the two main parts of the valve; (3) a clinical study of the patients to be selected,

of the results of surgery, and of the diagnostic criteria.

Less well developed are: (a) the dynamic aspects of the valvular defect; (b) the diagnostic methods of recognition of mitral stenosis.

The various surgical details of the mitral valve operation, even though well described, are less well illustrated than in,,other publications of Bailey.

Among the interesting details discussed in this book, mention should be made of gross and microscopic studies of the “atrophic” left ventricular wall.

In conclusion, this is an interesting contribution which may be read to advantage by those

cardiologists and surgeons who are familiar with the Italian language. A. A. L.

Announcements

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The AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY will hold its fourth annual convention at the Hotel

Biltmore in New York City on May 18 to 20, 1955. Two scientific sessions will be devoted to a

symposium on HYPERTENSION AND HYPERTENSIVE HEART DISEASE. Another scientific session will be devoted to ADVANCES IN CARDIAC SURGERY and a fourth session to the HEART AND CIRCU-

LATION IN SPORTS. In addition to symposia and panel meetings, there will be scientific exhibits on cardiovascular research and commercial exhibits, outlining the latest advances in the field of

cardiology. Dr. Ashton Graybiel, Pensacola, Florida, will preside. Any program information may be obtained from the Secretary of the College, Dr. Philip Reichert, 140 West 57 Street,

New York 19, N. Y.

The 1955 meeting of the AMERICAN GOITER ASSOCIATION will be held in the Skirvin Hotel,

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 28, 29, and 30, 1955.

The program will consist of papers and discussions dealing with the physiology and diseases

of the thyroid gland.