Out of the Mist
1997; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/pbm.1997.0074
ISSN1529-8795
Autores Tópico(s)Atrial Fibrillation Management and Outcomes
Resumothe past has been the "lumping" of atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. A chapter addressing the similarities, differences, and interrelationships between atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation would have strengthened the book. Related are issues as to whether atrial flutter predisposes to atrial fibrillation in a significant number of individuals, and whether the ablation of atrial flutter affects the recurrence of atrial fibrillation in individuals. The chapter by Samuel Levy of the University ofMarseille in France attempts to address some of the clinical issues, particularly anticoagulation , in individuals with pure atrial flutter. A final problem is that much has happened since the book was put to bed. This is a frequent problem with multi-authored books, which often require much time to compile. Judging from the bibliographies, the literature was current until some time in 1993. 1994, 1995, and 1996 have witnessed an explosion in clinical electrophysiologic understanding and in ablation therapy using radiofrequency catheters. Therapeutically, we are rapidly approaching a shift in the paradigm of treatment from medications to ablation. These criticisms notwithstanding, I believe that this book is a major contribution to the electrophysiologic literature. It is the first important source on atrial flutter since Paul Puech's book of 1956, which was in French, and there is no comparable recent source in the English literature. Waldo and Touboul's book fills an important niche, and I thank them for their efforts and for selecting contributors of the highest caliber. I am already looking forward to the next edition that will include the advances of the last couple of years. Morton F. Arnsdorf Professor ofMedicine Section of Cardiology University of Chicago Out of the Mist. By Harold M. Malkin. Vesalius Books, 1993. Pp. 412. In Out ofthe Mist, Dr. Harold M. Malkin, with the skillful selection of direct quotes from original texts, weaves the fascinating story of the remarkable men whose intellect , insight, and energy shaped to advance medicine and pathology during the period 1800-1900. After centuries of intellectual stagnation, the decisive change came with "recognition that true knowledge of nature could only be achieved by experimentation rather than by deductive reasoning," a concept expressed initially by Francis Bacon in his 1620 Novum Organum. The story begins with pathology from pre-historic times through the Age of Reason , including the major contributions from Italy, Holland, and Great Britain, followed by the Age of Enlightenment (highlighting Hermann Boerhaave of Holland, the old Vienna School of Medicine, and Giovanni Battists Morgagni of Italy) and into the 19th century. Subsequent chapters deal with the Disease Taxonomists (Thomas Sydenham, Carl Von Linne, William Cullen, Philippe Pinel), the Paris School of anatomic pathology (including the role ofBichet, Laennec, and Corvisart, among other eminent French physicians), the Progress of Pathology and Medicine 622 Book Reviews in Great Britain during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, including the prominent role of the Edinburgh School, the contributions of the men from Guy's Hospital (Ashly Cooper, Richard Bright, Thomas Addison, and Thomas Hodgkin), and the Dublin School (including RobertJ. Graves,John Cheyne, Abraham Colles, Robert Adams, and William Stokes) . Chapter 5 on The Progress of Pathology and the Organization ofScience in the Germanic Countries during the Nineteenth Century describes the two conceptual movements influencing German thought at the time; followed by Chapter 6 on Vienna and especially Karl Rokitansky and Neohumoralism . Chapter 7 on the Advancement of Normal and Pathological Histology deals with the evolution of the microscope, including development of the achromatic compound microscope by Zacharias in 1590 and the improved lens consUuction by Van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s, facilitating the development ofmicroscopic anatomy and histology under the stimulus ofJohannes Müller of Berlin. Chapter 8 reviews the accomplishments of the celebrated RudolfVirchow, credited with the establishment of cellular pathology. Chapter 9 reviews the activities ofthe French physiologist Francois Magendie and the Beginnings of Pathological Physiology, under the leadership ofMagendie's pupil Claude Bernard (1813-1878). Claude Bernard's comment in 1865 was decisive: So if I were planning a treatise on experimental medicine, I should go to work by invariably making observation of disease the basis of every experimental analysis. I should then proceed with my explanations, symptom by symptom, until I had...
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