Assessment Of Valvular Heart Disease Research Articles

Valvular Heart Disease ed. by Edmund H. Sonnenblick and Michael Lesch (review)

medical and pharmaceutical students. Perhaps one of these will translate it because , in spite of Nathan Kline's book, there is still a need for a truly basic manual. EssentiaL· of Toxicology by Loomis is the best available text on the principles of toxicology. This second edition firmly consolidates it as the standard and most authoritative classic description of principles of drug action required for an understanding of present-day toxicology. Jacobus W. Mostert, M.D. University of Chicago Valvular Heart Duease. Edited by Edmund H. Sonnenblick and Michael Lesch. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1975. Pp. 400. $24.75. Cardiovascular surgery has made great and important strides over the last decade. This is particularly so within realms of acquired and congenital valvular heart disease and its management by various forms of surgical approaches. A progress report documenting recent advances and presenting a balanced view of the choice of patients for operation, types of operations to be done, valves to be inserted when valve replacement is decided on, and results of such treatment both in the short and long term would indeed be timely. This book represents an attempt at such a survey, but suffers since the book consists mainly of chapters which originally appeared in Progress in Cardiovascular Dueases during 1973 not written with the goals of a single volume surveying the total field. Much of the information is not quite up-to-date, and since most articles were published in 1973 the literature is surveyed only through 1972. Included are chapters on radiology of valvular heart disease, radionuclide assessment and echocardiographic techniques, quantitative angiocardiography, clinical aspects of rheumatic and nonrheumatic valve disease, estimation of myocardial performance; mitral valve prolapse, care of patients undergoing heart surgery, prosthetic and homograft valves, and pathological anatomy of heart valve replacement. Some are disappointing, particularly the briefsurvey of radionuclide assessment of valvular heart disease which contains so little information that it might best have been deleted. The book contains useful information but lacks a unified approach because of its many authors. Little is written about mitral commissurotomy. Indeed surgical approaches in general are not exhaustively covered. References are useful but not exhaustive. Quality of illustrations is not always high, particularly in the chapter on echocardiography. In summary, this book attempts to survey the medical and surgical aspects of valvular heart disease. It contains useful information, but it is somewhat disappointing and not quite up-to-date. Leon Resnekov, M.D. Department of Medicine University of Chicago Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Autumn 1975 | 153 ...

Left heart catheterization by the transbronchial route: technic and applications in physiologic and diagnostic investigations.

Left heart catheterization is proving of increasing importance in the study of a variety of congenital and acquired cardiovascular defects. More than 500 left heart catheterizations have been performed by the transbronchial method without death or serious sequelae. This technic and its usefulness in clinical investigation and in the assessment of valvular heart disease are described.