Classic Papers in Critical Care. M. Fink, M. Hayes and N. Soni. (editors). Published by Bladon Medical Publishing, Oxford. Pp. 580; indexed; illustrated.
British Journal of Anaesthesia 92 (3): 456±8 (2004)
Book Reviews Classic Papers in Critical Care. M. Fink, M. Hayes and N. Soni (editors). Published by Bladon Medical Publishing, Oxford. Pp. 580; indexed; illustrated. Price £49.95. ISBN 1-904218-21-0. As stated in the preface, critical care medicine has come of age. It is no longer the poor relation of other specialties and the research and development in recent years re¯ects this. In fact, many of the important advances in critical care management have the unique status of having occurred within the living memories of the authors. It is this burgeoning of ideas and output that this book is attempting to rationalize. Does it succeed? On the whole, I think the answer is `yes'. The editors have been careful to select a truly expert and international group of contributors, each a recognized expert in critical care or an allied specialty. This gives strength and credence to a text that is attempting to do the impossible. Many of the authors are at pains to stress that the choices of `classical' papers are their own and although many readers will ®nd worthy papers omitted, the choices do largely make sense. The book is composed of 21 chapters. There has been an attempt to be comprehensive but there are signi®cant gaps. I wonder whether the titles of the chapters are as much a re¯ection of the expertise of the contributors as the editors' choices. The chapters begin with an introduction from the contributor, which is then followed by reports of 10 papers. Each report consists of the reference, its abstract, a summary by the contributor, a citation count, key related references, the key message, why the paper is important, its strengths, its weaknesses, and ®nally its relevance to critical care medicine. Figures and illustrations are sometimes included. This format is very clear and works well. The chapters are as follows: ventilation, acute lung injury, the heart, severe traumatic brain injury, the gut and its role in circulatory shock, renal support, the liver in critical illness, burns, trauma, clinical sepsis, nutrition and metabolism, ¯uids, infection in intensive care, infectious diseases, vasoactive and cardiotonic drugs, pain relief and sedation on intensive care, monitoring, scoring systems, ethics, cytokines, and paediatric critical care. The way contributors have interpreted their remit varies quite considerably. Some chapters are a broad overview of a subject, such as the renal support chapter but others are much more focused such as the chapter on severe traumatic brain injury. This means that some issues are dealt with comprehensively whilst others are missed. For example, there are no other chapters on neurological problems apart from trauma. The contributors also vary in what they de®ne as a classic paper. Some have looked back and give a very historical perspective, taking the reader from the origins through development to current opinion (e.g. the heart). Alternatively, other contributors have chosen only recent and current papers resulting in a sort of current controversies chapter (e.g. infection in the intensive care unit). The introductions similarly vary. The best example is probably the chapter entitled `Clinical sepsis'. The contributor has used the introduction to outline the historical development and de®nition of sepsis, ending with some of the current developments. Then there are the 10 papers and ®nally the contributor has written a summary to challenge the current state of research, with a list of 65 further references. Surprisingly, only one paper was chosen by more than one contributor and that was the restriction of ¯uid to trauma victims by Bickell and colleagues. This was chosen in chapter 9 (Trauma) and chapter 12 (Fluids). One observation to be made from the choice of papers is how few large randomized controlled trials
there are in critical care medicine. This of course re¯ects the dif®culties of research in this area and is one reason why a book such as this is very useful. This book is not designed to facilitate a student with facts. Its purpose is to encourage thought and to `serve as a catalyst for discussions'. Personally, I think it would be invaluable to all trainees in critical care. It gives perspective to the subjects, as well as giving the trainee a starting point from which to explore further research. The list of contributors is impressive. It is a book that should have further editions, with either different chapters or as new `classic papers' appear, updated chapters. This is a book I could recommend to any ITU department and to any individual embarking on a career in critical care research. B. Philips London, UK DOI: 10.1093/bja/521
A Practical Approach to Transesophageal Echocardiography. A. C. Perrino Jr and S. T. Reeves (editors). Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia. Pp. 356; indexed; illustrated. Price US$79.00. ISBN 0-7817-3638-2. Several books on this topic have seen the light in recent years. Most of the authors in this multi-author book are both anaesthetists and internationally renowned echocardiography experts who teach on the educational programs of the American Society of Echocardiography and Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. Although the target audience is therefore the anaesthetist±echocardiographer, this book could be useful to any practitioner involved in perioperative transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE). It was not meant to be a comprehensive reference text or case atlas of echocardiography and is therefore portable and concise. The chapters are all a manageable and digestible size of between 12 and 16 pages, with numerous clear illustrations and images. However, to include all the important information, the print is very small which makes it more dif®cult to read. The book is divided into ®ve parts: Part I is named `Essentials of two-dimensional imaging'. This includes a clear, understandable chapter that explains the often neglected and dif®cult topic of ultrasound physics very well. The chapter on the comprehensive 2-D examination has good summaries on how easily to obtain most of the basic views, what their primary diagnostic uses are, and which structures are seen in each of them. Although it is not internationally in standard clinical practice yet, the authors could have mentioned the new addition of 3-D echocardiography. The editors preferred to group the topics of ventricular systolic function and myocardial ischaemia in this part of the book. Cardiomyopathies are not discussed as a whole, but are referred to in different chapters throughout the book. A short discussion on restrictive cardiomyopathy would have been useful. Part II covers the `Essentials of Doppler echocardiography'. Both chapters on Doppler technology and quantitative Doppler are well written. The more recent technique of tissue Doppler imaging is included in an informative chapter on diastolic function. Part III consists of `Transesophageal echocardiography in valvular disease and surgery'. The chapters on the mitral valve, TOE use during mitral valve repair and replacement procedures, and prosthetic valves are comprehensive and valuable. It would be
Ó The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2004
Book Reviews
useful to have a more detailed discussion on the aetiology and different mechanisms of aortic regurgitation, especially with aortic valve repair procedures becoming more commonplace recently. The authors mentioned the Ross procedure further on in a good chapter on the right side of the heart. Part IV is called `Clinical challenges'. This part has chapters on the use of TOE during coronary revascularization, in aorta pathology, and TOE in the intensive care unit. It also includes an excellent chapter on congenital heart disease in the adult patient. Part V is `Man and machine'. This part at the end of the book has a good chapter on artefacts and pitfalls of image interpretation, and also a valuable section on technical issues and echocardiography machine operation. The authors correctly felt these essential concepts would be better appreciated after the acquirement of an understanding of the basic imaging modalities. This is a practical chapter explaining the importance of knowing your echo machine. October 2003 saw the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists (ACTA) and British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) pilot examination for perioperative transoesophageal echocardiography. This book covers the syllabus of both the UK ACTA/BSE Accreditation Examination and the American National Board of Echocardiographers (NBE) TOE Examination very well, and will be helpful in preparation for both of these tests. Each chapter concludes with a valuable series of self-assessment test questions to assist and con®rm the teaching points. It is dif®cult to teach and explain echocardiography well with written text and still images. Skills required to practice a high standard of echocardiography can therefore not be gained from textbooks alone. This book, however, is a very good up-to-date effort and provides the perioperative echocardiographer with a resource to acquire relevant and essential principles of current practice. I would recommend this book to both beginners and more experienced echocardiographers involved in the practice of TOE. J. Swanevelder Leicester, UK DOI: 10.1093/bja/520
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