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SOSA-LEÓN, L. A., DAVIE, A. J., HODGSON, D. R., EVANS, D. L.& ROSE, R. J. (1995). Effects of oral fluid on cardiores-piratory and metabolic responses to prolonged exer-cise. Equine Veterinary Journal, Supplement 18, 274–8.

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(Accepted for publication 21 October 2000)

Book Review

Small Animal ECGs: An Introductory guide Martin, M. Oxford, Blackwell Science, 1999. 128pp. £19.99(soft) ISBN 0632052163

Electrocardiography probably ranks with pharma-cokinetics and the interpretation of blood gases asa subject which fills many veterinary students andgraduates with trepidation. Some will cut throughthe complicated jargon presented in many textsand grasp the basic concepts of this subject by thetime they graduate. For the remainder, whateverrudimentary understanding was gained in the earlyyears of study, soon withers due to disuse in prac-tice. Most of the standard texts are full of termssuch as ‘dipoles’, ‘vectors’ and ‘Eindhoven’s trian-gle’ which hamper the beginner (or someone start-ing again) from getting going.

If you fall into this category, Mike Martin’sIntroductory Guide to ECGs is for you. The authoradvises that the book should be used as a ‘steppingstone’ to more advanced texts on the subject andshould be read from beginning to end. I think thisis sound advice—the book, at 114 pages, can easilybe read within a single evening. It is divided intothree parts, how the normal ECG is formed, how itis recorded and systematically examined and whatabnormalities can be detected. The book is well

illustrated with diagrams that aid in understandingthe concepts portrayed. Many of the ECG tracesused as figures in the book are of high quality andwell labelled. There are also many practical hintsranging from the type of electrodes to use andwhere to place them through to how to avoid arte-facts of muscle tremor in dogs and purring in cats.Mike brings to the book some of the graphicdescriptions for which he is noted in his lectures—one which particularly comes to mind is hisdescription of the chaotic rhythm of atrial fibrilla-tion that he says sounds like ‘shoes in the tumbledrier’.

The book does not claim to be a comprehensivereference and it is not. The abnormalities dis-cussed and illustrated are those which will be mostcommonly encountered, however. A more in-depthtext should be tackled once this introductory guidehas got you started and made sure you are record-ing high quality ECGs. My only criticism of thebook would be the occasional loss of clarity in somesections of ECG trace and the size of print inTable 7.1, which really tested my eye sight. Thissaid, I think the author achieves his aims and if theymatch up with your needs, I would thoroughlyrecommend this introductory guide.

JONATHAN ELLIOTT