IO Book reviews

tory distress syndrome. During the perinatal period the symptoms of respiratory insufficiency, acidosis and hypoxia, are particularly important.

The present book aims at a presentation of the most important problems of respiratory gas transport with respect to clinical situations. For, the knowledge of the physiological processes during the transition from placental to pulmonary respiration is a prere- quisite for the treatment of impaired function.

In chapter Z the fundamentals of the physiology of gas transport are exposed, including gas transport in the lung, carriage of blood gases by the blood, buffer- ing of the blood, the role of circulation in gas trans- port, and adaptation of ventilation to the metabolic requirements (regulation of ventilation). Chapter ZZ deals with the gas transport during pregnancy and with the gas exchange of the placenta (pulmonary ventilation of the pregnant woman, respiratory func- tion of her blood, respiratory function of fetal blood, gas exchange in the placenta, placental blood flow). The gas transport and the gas exchange of the pla- centa during birth are treated in chapter ZZZ, including the processes in the mother, the respiratory function of fetal blood, and the uterine blood flow during labor. Chapter IV covers the gas exchange in the newborn (morphological development of the lung, functional development of the lung, blood gas transport and buf- fering of the blood, diffusion, regulation of ventila- tion). In the final chapter V these physiological prin- ciples are applied to the therapy of perinatal respira- tory distress. Particular aspects of the therapy of pre- natal and postnatal disturbances are discussed. The list of references includes 184 representative papers, in- cluding the most important recent reviews (after 1965).

This book, written by prominent experts in the field, should be a valuable guide for the clinical physi- ologist, clinician as well as general practitioner.

Die Wertheimische Radikaloperation

J. Artner, J.H. Holzner and A. Schaller Wilhelm Maudrig Verlag, Vienna, 1972 g: pgq;i6 Figs., 2 chronological tables, 69 Tables)

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The inconveniently arranged subject matter of this book can be divided into four groups of subjects.

1. The first 500 cases of carcinoma of the cervix uteri on which Wertheim operated during the period 1898-1909, are compared with the last 500 cases sub- mitted to the same radical operation at the Vienna University Gynecological Clinic II during the period 1953-1967. Aspects compared are the operative tech- nique, the postoperative complications, the operative mortality and the 5year results.

2. There are chapters on the evolution of the tech- nique of the Wertheim operation during the years 1898 through 1911, the instruments used, the pre- and postoperative management of the patient, hemo- statis at operation, anesthesia, the risks of the inter- vention, the question of removing or not of lymph nodes, the treatment of pre-invasive carcinoma, operation during pregnancy, and the recurrence after therapy.

3. Comparative statistical studies, done in part with the aid of a computer, supply an abundance of numerical data on 637 patients treated by operation at the above mentioned clinic.

4. In addition, descriptions are given of the cyto- logical and histological diagnosis, the classification into clinical and histological stages, and the examina- tion of the resected specimen. One of the conclusions is that, if histological stage 1A of cervical carcinoma can be demonstrated by conization, removal of the lymph nodes is unnecessary and consequently a vagi- nal Schauta procedure can be carried out.

F. Kreuzer, Nijmegen W.P. Plate, The Hague