This 326-page volume aims to teach the reader to critically examine the echocardiogram, differentiate normal from abnormal, and emphasizes pitfalls in interpretation and technique. Individual chapters are devoted to physics, instrumentation, the normal echocardiogram, the abnormal echocardiogram, examination of patients, a chapter of self-assessment, presentation of the new technique of cross-sectional echocardiography in evaluation of congenital heart disease, and finally, a description of photographic techniques for the reproduction of echocardiograms obtained with light-developed paper. The illustrations, in general, are of excellent quality, though a few, nonideal illustrations that contain useful clinical material are utilized.
The book is written in a light, personal, and occasionally breezy style that makes for very easy reading. The authors' realistic involvement in echocardiography is probably best shown by Fig 5-1, which shows the apprehension of a cooperative child undergoing echocardiography. Each abnormal entity is described along with a comprehensive literature review and the authors' comments