415 Case Report: Stiegel et al: Repair of LV Rupture

blood may more easily dissect through the damaged endocardium, into the myocardium, and eventually through the epicardium.

Once the repair is performed, the prognosis will de- pend on the seventy of the cardiac disease, age, and general health, similar to any other post-open-heart pro- cedure. Our patient, who was in good health before the repair and was hypotensive only briefly, experienced no complications postoperatively, and myocardial function, as judged by gated heart scan, improved markedly.

This research was made possible by a grant from the Heineman Medical Research Center of Charlotte, NC.

References 1. Aberg B, La1 Koul B, Liska J, et al: Delayed left ventricular

free wall rupture complicating coronary bypass surgery. Scand J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 19273, 1985

2. Lewis J, Burchell HB, Titus JL: Clinical and pathologic fea- tures of postinfarction cardiac rupture. Am J Cardiol 23:43, 1969

3. London RE, London ST: Ruptures of the heart: a critical analysis of 47 consecutive autopsy cases. Circulation 31202, 1965

4. Bashour T, Kabbani SS, Ellerton DG, et al: Surgical salvage of heart rupture: report of two cases and review of the litera- ture. Ann Thorac Surg 36:209, 1983

5. Moran JM, Michaelis LL (eds): Surgery for the Complications of Myocardial Infarction. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1980,

6. Van Tassel RA, Edwards JE: Rupture of the heart complicat- ing myocardial infarction analysis of 40 cases including nine examples of left ventricular false aneurysm. Chest 61:104, 1972

7. Hochreiter C, Goldstein J, Borer IS, et a1 Myocardial free- wall rupture after acute infarction: survival aided by per- cutaneous IABP. Circulation 65(6):1279, 1982

8. Feneley MP, Chang VP, O'Rourke MF: Myocardial rupture after acute myocardial infarction: ten year review. Br Heart J 49550, 1983

pp 303-306

REVIEW OF RECENT BOOKS

Current Controversies in Thoracic Surgery Edited by C . Frederick Kittle Philadelphia, Saunders, 1986 288 pp, illustrated, $49.95

Reviewed by C . L. N. Robinson, M.D.

It was a pleasure to read this new book on thoracic surgery. In the preface it is stated that some controversies are esoteric, but as concepts in medicine and surgery change, the arguments for and against principles and stratagems must follow.

Each subject has an excellent historical review and discussion by the editor. Following that, each subject has a review and discussion in succeeding chapters written by 2 to 5 other promi- nent authorities. For every subject, this is a useful method of presentation and the reader is left to compare, contrast, and draw conclusions.

The subjects discussed are Zenker's diverticulum, the surgi- cal management of recurrent or persistent pneumothorax, malignant pleural mesothelioma, needle biopsy for the diag- nosis of intrathoracic lesions, thoracoscopy, the use of radionu- clide scans in lung cancer, the use of mediastinoscopy in lung

cancer, the extent of resection for localized lung cancer, new anesthetic techniques for intrathoracic operations, management of postoperative thoracotomy pain, muscle flaps and thoracic problems, the management of massive hemoptysis, and the use of lasers for tracheobronchial lesions.

The illustrations and drawings are well depicted and of high quality.

The editor has chosen newer topics that are controversial. It is strange but true that the only need to mention pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchiectasis is in the chapter on the manage- ment of massive hemoptysis (with control of bleeding mainly by bronchial artery embolization). Subjects such as pleural dis- ease, mediastinal tumors, and esophageal cancer are not in- cluded.

A minor criticism is that, for a few topics, discussion by sev- eral authorities means that the history of the subject is repeated unnecessarily in the historical review.

All in all, this book is strongly recommended for thoracic trainees, thoracic consultants, and thoracic nurses, and of course, medical libraries.

Vancouver, BC, Canada