BOOK REVIEWS
is a "must read" for any glaucoma specialist or general
Rating system
**** Excellent ** Fair
*** Good * Poor
Glaucoma Diagnosis: Structure and Function
Edited by Robert N. Weinreb and Erik 1. Greve. Kugler
Publications, The Hague. 2004. 152 pages. US$60.
Presentation **** Depth *** ****
***
Understandability Clinical applicability
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Up-to-datedness Value ****
t"J"1his book is a summary of a meeting of leading
1 glaucoma experts from around the world. Their
purpose was to come up with some form of consensus
with regard to glaucoma histopathological damage and
the use of functional tests to help diagnose and follow
the disease by summarizing all previous and current
glaucoma literature.
The text starts with a review and commentary on
consensus and introduces us to a new term, likelihood
ratio, which the authors recommend should replace
sensitivity and specificity for new tests. It then looks at
the histopathological loss of retinal ganglion cells and
tries to correlate the degree of loss with the presence
of visual field defects.
The book provides great depth in currently available
new technologies for the diagnosis and management of
glaucoma, including the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph,
optical coherence tomography, scanning laser polarim-
etry, frequency doubling technology perimetry and
short-wave automated perimetry. The basis behind the
technologies as well as the advantages and disadvan-
tages of each are well detailed. The authors rightly indi-
cate that disc photography and standard automated
perimetry are still the "gold standard" for diagnosing
glaucoma and detecting disease progression. However,
the new technologies will definitely aid us in earlier
diagnosis and better follow-up.
Each chapter has a summary at the beginning high-
lighting the salient points of the chapter as well as an
extensive reference section at the end. Because each
chapter is a summary of the literature, the text is a bit
fast paced and may seem slightly disjointed. There is
also personal commentary by various experts along the
way.
Overall, this text provides an excellent reference and
226 CAN J OPHTHALMOL-VOL. 40, NO.2, 2005
ophthalmologist with an interest in glaucoma. As this
book is the first of a series on consensus meetings, the
management of glaucoma is not addressed here but
likely will be in the future.
Rajiv Bindlish, MD
Halton Health Care Seroices
Oakville, Onto
Field of Vision: a Manual and Atlas of Perimetry
Jason ].S. Barton and Michael Benatar. Humana Press,
Totowa, Nj. 2003. 334 pages. US$150.
Presentation **** Depth *** ***
****
Understandability Clinical applicability
****
Up-to-datedness Value ***
T he title of this book caught my interest because I
thought it might be a text on glaucoma and perime-
try, but the authors are a neuro-ophthalmologist and a
neurologist, and, hence, the emphasis of the text is
neuro-ophthalmology. There are brief chapters on the
concepts of perimetry and visual anatomy. There is a
good chapter describing bedside and clinical perimetry,
followed by separate chapters on Goldmann perimetry
and automated perimetry (specifically Humphrey). The
latter chapter is weak in comparison to other texts with
an emphasis on glaucoma.
The bulk of the text is an impressive collection of
over 120 cases with clinical scenarios and visual fields
(the majority are Goldmann). You can test yourself and
read the answer to the case on the flip side of the page,
which gives the description of the visual field, anatom-
ic localization, pathology and findings on confronta-
tional fields. Each case is accompanied by either disc
photographs or magnetic resonance images.
The text does not try to be comprehensive and dis-
cuss all neuro-ophthalmologic conditions, but it does
try to provide some clinical pearls with the specific
cases. It would be an excellent text for residents. For
non-neuro-ophthalmologists, it would provide a good
review of reading Goldmann visual fields and their
clinical correlation.
Elaine Woo, MD, FRCSC
Richmond Hill, Onto