European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 32 (1989) 293-294

Elsevier

293

EJO 00842

Book reviews

Research in Perinatal Medicine, Volume VII. Fetal and Neonatal Development

C.T. Jones (ed.) Perinatology Press Ithaca, New York 1988 ISBN Number O-916859-39-8

US $96.00.

This book is a report of a conference held in 1987 in Oxford. It was an international meeting to honour the visit of Professor Mont Liggins as a Christensen

Visiting Fellow at St Catherine’s College.

The proceedings are well edited. All papers are articles on recent research reports

condensed to three to four pages, which makes it easy reading. Several very interesting topics are covered: embryonic development, the placenta and control of

perinatal growth, the heart and cardiovascular control, the developing brain, the lung and the respiratory system, mechanisms and physiology of birth, infant and fetal nutrition, and control of growth and clinical monitoring and management of fetus and newborn. The researchers come from all over the world and cover various

disciplines. Also, busy clinicians can rapidly find their way and will pick up interesting

information on basic scientific developments that could very much influence their clinical approach and management. This reviewer selected his own information in a

few points:

(1) Trophoblast signals and maternal responses are seen before implantation (PAF = platelets activating factor; EPF = early pregnancy factor).

(2) Embryonic growth and development have everything to do with protein-like growth factors, and the on-going research in this field has to join the basic

research in cancer (pro-oncogenes).

(3) Not only fetal sheep and guinea pigs but also the fetal lama contributes to our

knowledge in perinatology. (4) There is a link between thermo-vasomotor control, respiration and behavioural

states. (5) Several enzyme systems necessary for energy requirement have to be triggered

before birth in order to deal with an environment much higher in oxygen

postnatally. (6) Clinical monitoring and management of fetus and neonate need more alert

clinicians who study the course of nature, including pathology.

0028-2243/89/$03.50 0 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)

294

(7) Again, Mont Liggins told me something new: there are species with placental 17o-hydroxylase (such as sheep) in which the fetal adrenal stimulates parturi- tion, and those lacking this enzyme (such as primates), in which fetal cortisol has no part in initiating parturition.

This book certainly deserves a place on the book shelfs of researchers, but also clinicians who care for frontier-work will find up-to-date information. The only prerequisite is ‘to be in love with perinatal medicine’. Even if you are not, Colin Jones - the editor - has given it a really excellent try.

T.K.A.B. Eskes, M.D. Nijmegen

Book Reviews

Skeletal development of the wrist and hand in Macaca mulatta and man; A Roentgeno- graphic Atlas

pp. 124 Maria Michejda Karger Basel, 1986 ISBN 3-8055-3957-6

All scientists using primates for research will find this book beneficial in their work, especially obstetricians and pediatricians, interested in fetal growth and development, anthropologists, teratologists, anatomists and reproductive physiolo- gists. This atlas presents precise bone maturation standards for the human hand and wrist in a highly convenient way. Standards to a human newborn are compared to part of the fetal life in Macaca. These well-illustrated data not only allow de- termination of the age of the primates used for experimental studies, but also an accurate comparison with human material. The book is indispensable for prenatal studies using pregnant Macaque monkeys to know the gestation age in random mated females. The Rhesus monkey is a widely used animal model for biomedical research, and Dr. Maria Michejda’s book brings a unique set of data tabulated for both sexes. 112 references provide an up to date bibliography. This publication will become a fundamental textbook not only for radiologists, but to the research community of reproductive biologists and perinatologists.

Maurice Panigel Paris