Surgery of the skull base. Edited by Clarence T. Sasaki, Brian F. McCabe, and John A. Kirchner, 254 pp, illus, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1984. $72.50
✍ Scribed by Harris, Jeffrey P.
- Publisher
- Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
- Year
- 1984
- Weight
- 92 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0148-6403
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This paperback manual is designed for medical students and primary care physicians. It is well written and contains a moderate number of black and white schematic drawings which are well done. There are no other major illustrations. The book begins with chapters on anatomy, physiology, medical history, and physical examination, and then contains a n additional 30 chapters covering major problems in the head and neck. These chapters are titled by symptom complex such as chronic hearing loss, sudden hearing loss, ear pain, ear drainage, etc. Each chapter has a differential diagnosis for that symptom and discusses how one would evaluate and diagnose that specific problem. In almost all cases treatment is not discussed.
The book is a step forward for a medical student text in that it includes chapters on facial trauma, soft tissue injury, and cosmetic deformities. It also contains a chapter on psychological aspects of otolaryngology. The book is a step backwards in that the authors continue to use the term "otolaryngology" instead of the new title "head and neck surgery." The strengths of this book are that it is well written and is successfully aimed a t medical students and primary care physicians. It contains pertinent materials. It major weakness is that not all subjects lend themselves to a symptom-oriented approach and, therefore, the discussions on facial plastic and reconstructive surgery are needlessly short. The paucity of therapeutic recommendations detracts substantially from the success of this book. Nonetheless, of the textbooks currently available to medical students, this is probably the best written.