REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS 585

REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS

Practice of Surgery. Current Review. Volume I. By WALTER F. BALLINGER, M.D., St. Louis, and THEODORE DRAPANAS, M.D., New Orleans. 10 x 7 in. Pp. 321 +x. Illustrated. 1972. London: Henry Kimpton. E1o.55.

THIS book consists of a series of reviews on specific subjects by members of the departments of surgery at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The subjects are those in which, in the opinion of the editors, important advances are being made. These cover a wide range of general, vascular, traumatic, thoracic, and plastic surgery, so that the book will interest most surgeons. The chapters on fluid replacement in trauma, polyhormonal syndromes, and ventilatory failure after operation or injury are parti- cularly good, while there is much of interest in most chapters. Each chapter has an excellent bibliography related to its subject.

The chapter on emergency medical transportation is of interest in describing the relatively backward position of the U.S.A. compared with the excellent service in this country thanks to such organizations as the St. John Ambulance Association, the local authorities, and the National Health Service.

The book can be recommended to all surgeons as a convenient method of keeping well informed over a wide range of surgery and as a source of references for further reading.

Recent Progress in the Study of Disorders of the Colon and Rectum. Edited by S. DROBNI and M. FEHER. 94 x 66 in. Pp. 538. Illustrated. 1972. Budapest: Akademiai Diado. L.8.50.

THIS book publishes papers delivered at the International Congress of Hendrologicum Collegium held in Budapest in July 1970, and it consists of ninety-six papers by authors from twenty-six countries, with many contribu- tions from surgeons in Eastern Europe and Russia. It is divided into sections on congenital anomalies, diagnostic procedures, polyposis, malignant disease, colitis, procto- logy, etc., the largest section of thirty-seven papers being on malignant disease, while seventeen papers are on various aspects of colitis.

There are some surprising omissions; for example, there is no contribution on the problems of rectal prolapse and there are only two contributions that deal with diverticular disease of the colon. Most of the papers are published in English, with a few in German and one in French. The printing and production are excellent, with the figures and illustrations (mostly black and white but a few in colour) clear and lucid.

Surgeons in England will not find anything very new to them in these papers, but many of the problems discussed are also subjects of controversy and slow advance in this country, and it is interesting to learn how surgeons in other lands are trying to solve them. Large-bowel malignancy and its many problems seem to be as common in Eastern Europe as in the Western world, and there also seems to be considerable division of opinion about the value and place of sphincter-preserving operations, both in low rectal cancers and in cases of ulcerative colitis.

There are some useful contributions on amoebic infection, reminding us that its diagnosis may be difficult even when it is considered, and that the sigmoidoscopic appearances may closely resemble those of non-specific ulcerative colitis.

Unfortunately, not all the contributions have summaries and none of the chapters has any references at the end, even when references are mentioned in the text, an omission which rather detracts from the value of this book as a work of reference.

The Upper Cervical Spine. By DETLEF VON TORKLUS and WALTER GEHLE, Hamburg. 104 x 76 in. Pp. 101. Illustrated. 1972. Stuttgart : Georg Thieme Verlag. DM.48.

THIS is a useful book. It is not easy to read, but it presents very full information about the anatomy, anomalies, and pathology of the upper cervical spine. It is clearly based on a great deal of painstaking work. The text is very well illustrated throughout by diagrams and reproductions of radiographs, which greatly ease the reader’s task and assist the understanding of this sometimes difficult region. Paediatricians will in particular welcome the sections dealing with development and anomalies, while allclinicians who have to treat necks will be grateful for this collection of reliable basic information. The authors have-rightly- dealt only very briefly with the matter of treatment. To do so would to some extent have lessened the value of the book. They have, instead, concentrated on bringing order to the description of situations at and below the occiput; most readers will think that they have succeeded in this considerable task. The figures are sensibly numbered and well arranged so that references to them in the text can instantly be followed. Many references are given, and these are conveniently listed. The index is short, but is adequate and reliable. The arrangement and heading of the sections could perhaps be sharper and more definite, and it is hoped that some errors of proof reading will be corrected in the next edition. Dr. Michaelis’s translation of what may have been a difficult text on what certainly is a complex subject is good and clear. Most English readers will have cause to thank him for opening up this mine of information. The slim volume costs E7, but it is an important book and it should be seen by all who are concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the cervical spine.

Abdominale Angiographie. By W. WENZ, with the co-operation of G. VAN KAICK, D. BEDUHN, and F.-J. ROTH. Pp. 226. Illustrated. 1972. Berlin: Springer- Verlag. DM.96.

THIS book in German is based on the authors’ experience of abdominal angiography in 2804 adult and child patients and is meant as a guide to the non-specialist radiologist working in a small hospital, to trainee radiologists, and to general surgeons who wish to know what help can be obtained from specialized radiology. Renal angiography (except for trauma) has been omitted.

The vascular anatomy of the abdomen is described. There are detailed sections on the various forms of arterial and venous angiography with descriptions of the equip- ment and techniques needed.