Ann Thorac Surg 1997;64:198
© 1997 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Review of Recent Books
Color Atlas of Congenital Heart Surgery
Edited by S. Bert Litwin St. Louis, Mosby, 1996 255 pp, illustrated, $250.00 ISBN: 0-8151-5511-5Reviewed by David R. Clarke, MD
David R Clarke, MD
See also page 193.
Color Atlas of Congenital Heart Surgeryby Dr S. Bert Litwin is a photographic masterpiece containing 634 plates, the vast majority of which are color intraoperative anatomy and technique illustrations accumulated over a 25-year period. The 255-page atlas contains vivid descriptions of often multiple surgical options to deal with a variety of cardiac lesions or situations. In 21 chapters comprising one to six sections each, Dr Litwin covers a spectrum of palliative and corrective surgical alternatives for the treatment of all major categories of congenital heart disease.
In most sections of the atlas, surgeons could quibble about the exact approach, choice of patch material, suture technique, or other details. However, none could argue that referring to this work did not in some way increase their level of understanding of a lesion and its repair. Doctor Litwin does not dwell on myocardial preservation or bypass techniques that are rapidly changing in the specialty. With the exception of a few procedures such as the Waterston shunt that are of historical interest, Dr Litwin concentrates on illustrating currently accepted and time-tested techniques for treating commonly encountered congenital cardiac anomalies.
The Color Atlas of Congenital Heart Surgery is not intended for the reader with a casualinterest in congenital cardiac surgery. The color plates, although clear and accompanied by orientation indicators, are more difficult to comprehend than artists' sketches and require intimate knowledge of cardiac anatomy to be useful. However, from this book, residents, fellows, or staff surgeons who are involved in the surgical care of patients with congenital heart disease can obtain a clear picture of the internal anatomy before going into the operating room. In addition, the book enables the pediatric cardiologist and pediatric pathologist to observe the heart from the surgeon's point of view without donning a scrub suit.
The positive features of this atlas are too numerous to itemize. No other source includes color illustrations of five different techniques for dealing with coarctation of the aorta. No other source contains 83 plates that show surgical options for handling D-transposition of the great arteries. no other source demonstrates palliative and corrective approaches to tetralogy of fallot in 73 color photographs. this book does not belong in a bookcase but on the desktop of every physician who participates in the surgical treatment of patients with congenital cardiac defects.
Denver, Colorado
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