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This is the second edition of an ambitious single volume illustrated text attempting to broadly cover medical and surgical ophthalmology. The first edition was very popular with local trainees preparing for their part II examinations. Its strengths are its breadth, price, inclusion of many clear illustrations and its readability. The layout and text are clear. Sub specialty areas are colour coded for easy reference; within subspecialty areas small chapters are devoted to individual clinical entities. Consistency across the many authors is reasonable. An added benefit is that pathology, including many of the histopictographs from Myron Yanoff's ophthalmic pathology text, is incorporated into the clinical descriptions, linking the two more clearly than working from a separate pathology text. Unfortunately many of these pictures are too small to appreciate the histologic detail despite the high quality of the printing. Much of the basic science underpinning the disease processes is also integrated into the text. Another useful feature, which is lacking in many other clinical texts, are detailed descriptions and step-by-step photographs of the most common surgical procedures in ophthalmology, eg: horizontal rectus surgery, phacoemulsification, trabeculectomy, vitrectomy and eyelid procedures. The first edition suffered from being published prior
to the results of all the recently completed multi centre glaucoma
trials - these are all included in this new edition, as is non penetrating
surgery for glaucoma. There is a large section (over 100 pages) on
refractive surgery - expanded from the first edition, which contains
more detail than the trainee or non refractive surgeon is interested
in. Expanded coverage of other areas, for example dysthyroid ophthalmopathy
which is only cursorily covered on less than half a page, would have
been better for the purposes of exam preparation. There continues
to be a significant number of typographical errors in the text that
was a frustration of the first edition, for example mm is often substituted
for µm. The accompanying CD ROM includes all of the 2000+ colour illustrations in PDF format. These, however, are only small pictures (200 x 300 pixels) which pixelate badly at full screen size. The text is not on the CD but it provides a link and a password to access the full text online , fully searchable, with highlighted ongoing updates to the text. Its restriction to a single volume and desire to cover
all areas means that it cannot possibly be encyclopaedic; this is
NOT a reference text for detailed information on any specific topic.
Subspecialist texts or a comprehensive multi volume texts are more
suited to this purpose. Rather it is a broad and adequately detailed
book ideal for trainees seeking to initially cover the whole field
of ophthalmology. Its clear and easily readable style, reasonable
price and recent publication make it also an attractive book for the
general ophthalmologist or subspecialist wanting an update across
the field of ophthalmology. Dr Guy Bylsma (MBBS) This is available for purchase through the Library's Bookshop
Service, or available for loan through the library. Contact
the library for more details. |
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