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BOOK AND MULTIMEDIA REVIEWS

Basic Science for Anaesthetists.

Resident; University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA; JA5Z{at}hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu

Basic Science for Anaesthetists.

Dolenska S. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-67602-9. 199 pages, $55.00.

This monograph is a very useful review of diverse basic science concepts relevant to anesthetic practice. The overall organization of the book is sound. The diagrams provide adequate insight for understanding the concepts dealt with in the text. For the most part, the book reads very well. However, certain areas require re-reading the same line several times to understand the writer's intent. This was usually the result of excessively long sentence structure. For example, the long complex sentence on page 124 fails to state clearly that the bradycardia seen with increased intracranial pressure is a response to the systemic heart rate response to maintain cerebral perfusion pressure.

There were several outstanding areas: including variables affecting turbulent flow versus laminar flow (page 12), T-pieces (page 60), cerebral blood flow (page 124), and the discussion on blood volume and blood pressure.

Several ambiguities were noted: page 57 seems to imply that enflurane is more soluble than halothane, which is certainly not true. Figure 92 on page 120 states that with increased inotropy there is a shift of the end systolic point to the left and lower on the x-axis and thus there is an increase in stroke volume. However, this is not apparent on the diagram. The whole loop has shifted to the left and the difference between the end diastolic-end systolic point is the same in both curves and thus is stroke volume. On page 148 under Zone 1, it states: "In normal lungs, apical capillaries are just expanded." It is not clear what is meant by "just expanded"? Does this mean that Zone 1 does not really exist in a normal lung but exists with positive pressure ventilation or hypotension? Under Zone 2 it states: "since arterial pressure increases downward because of the hydrostatic effect," however, it is not clear what is meant by "downward." Presumably, this refers to movement from the apex to the base of the lung? On page 150, a diagram showing "perfusion and ventilation" on the y-axis and "base to apex" on the x-axis would be helpful.

In summary, this is a helpful book for review, and it fulfills the author's intention. It is not an ideal book to deal with a novel concept; prior familiarity of the topic appears to be important for understanding.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Antonakakis, J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Antonakakis, J.