Anesthetic Implications of Congenital Anomalies in Children

Abstract

The principal authors of this small reference text indicate that two concepts have been emphasized in the preparation of the work: (1) that the presence of one congenital anomaly should prompt a search for others and (2) that the book is designed to present some of the principles of anesthetic management in children with congenital anomalies, not to serve as a textbook of pediatric anesthesiology. The first concept should already be familiar to anesthesiologists. Regarding the second, this reviewer's opinion is that the book, as it has finally evolved, falls somewhere between the management principle and textbook genres and in this divisiveness loses the vigor, originality, and cohesiveness implicit in its title. Fourteen contributors in addition to Dr Stehling have written the book's 12 chapters. These anesthesiologists and their departments are among North America's most distinguished, and what they have submitted is, of course, correct and useful. But this is