1056
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
correlations that did not seem sensible." A necessary but obviously risky maneuver. The examples cited occurred in otherwise interesting and valuable papers. It was not my purpose to embarrass their authors, who are among our most respected investigators, but to indicate that the printed word is not necessarily holy writ. It is possible to re view most articles critically, keeping these basic principles in mind. It is imperative, however, that authors provide us with suffi cient description of their methodology and data to permit such an analysis. If they do not, we must be guarded in accepting their results.
ALFRED SOMMER
JUNE, 1975
WHITE-TRANSLUCENT BURIAN-AIXEN CONTACT LENS ELECTRODE FOR HUMAN ELECTRORETINOGRAPHY
Editor: The Burian-Allen contact lens is widely used in clinical electroretinography. As manufactured, the central corneal contact lens is made of clear acrylic plastic* The modification consists of replacing the clear lens with a white translucent lens, also of acrylic plastic. The translucent lens increases light dispersion to the interior of the eye and provides ganzfeld (whole field) retinal stimulation (Figure).
REFERENCES
1. Crisp, W. H.: On editing our own manu scripts. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 13:907, 1930. 2. Edwards, W. C, and Layden, W. E. : Mon ocular versus binocular patching in traumatic hyphema. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 76:359, 1973. 3. Watzke, R. C, and Leaverton, P. E. : Light coagulation in presumed histoplasmic choroiditis. Arch. Ophthalmol. 86:127, 1971. 4. Acers, T. E.: Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis: A double blind therapeutic study. Arch. Ophthalmol. 71:58, 1964. 5. Weber, J. C, Schlaegel, T. F., Jr., and Golden. B.: Statistical correlation of uveitis syn dromes with virus titers. Am. T. Ophthalmol. 78: 948, 1974. 6. Berkow, J. W., Patz, A., and Fine, S. : A follow-up of blind diabetic patients. Ann. Oph thalmol. 7:79, 1975. 7. Shields, J. A., and McDonald, P. R.: Im provements in the diagnosis of posterior uveal melanomas. Arch. Ophthalmol. 91:259, 1974. 8. Yasuna, E. : Management of traumatic hyphema. Arch. Ophthalmol. 91:190, 1974. 9. Hoyt, W. F., Frisen, L., and Newman, N. M. : Fundoscopy of nerve fiber layer defects in glau coma. Invest. Ophthalmol. 12:814, 1973. 10. James, W. A., Jr., and L'Espérance, F. A. : Treatment of diabetic optic nerve neovascularization by extensive retinal photocoagulation. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 78:939, 1974.
CORRESPONDENCE Letters to the Editor must be typed double-spaced on 8Y2 X 11-inch bond paper; with Vis-inch margins on all four sides, and limited in length to two manuscript pages.
Figure (Pearlman). Modified white-translucent Burian-Allen contact lens electrode.
I am indebted to John Dowling for this suggestion. The idea is not new and Profes sor Dowling did not claim originality for it. Other workers may, indeed, currently be using a similar or identical device, but knowl edge of it among clinicians does not seem to be widespread. The application works well, and we have been able to obtain larger electroretinographic responses to different stimu lus intensities, without having to modify our existing laboratory equipment. This simple ♦Hansen Ophthalmic Development Laboratory, P.O. Box 613, Iowa City, IA 52240.
VOL. 79, NO. 6
BOOK REVIEWS
change precludes the need to install a hemi spheric bowl for ganzfeld stimulation within the shielded enclosure where testing is con ducted. Formerly, we presented the stimulus light in Maxwellian view (light focused in the plane of the pupil) via fiber optic wave guides and condensing lenses. The loss of light intensity by the fiber optic system is considerable. The stimulus efficiency is in creased by making the above change. JEROME T. PEARLMAN,
M.D.
Los Angeles, California
BOOK REVIEWS OPHTHALMIC MANIFESTATIONS OF SYSTEMIC VASCULAR DISEASE. MAJOR PROBLEMS IN
vol. 3. By David G. Cogan. Camden, New Jersey, W. B. Saunders, Co., 1974. Clothbound, 187 pages, table of contents, bibliography, 118 black and white figures. $11
INTERNAL MEDICINE,
This is the third volume of a series of 24, edited by Lloyd H. Smith, Jr. A list of the subject matter of future volumes is printed opposite the title page and it includes a variety of disorders. The editor could not have selected a more qualified author to write volume 3, and the results are excellent. Systemic vascular dis ease so commonly involves the ocular struc tures that this text should be valuable to all medical disciplines concerned with any phase of vascular abnormalities. Although the text comprises only 154 pages with 118 illustrations, there is an ex tensive bibliography of 709 references. The descriptions of the ocular manifestations in general are brief but complete and are ref erenced toward further reading. The index is detailed. The illustrations are of unusual clarity. The nine chapters, each further subdivided are: External ocular signs, Fundus, Sig
1057
nificance of fundus signs, Subjective symp toms and visual field abnormalities, Fundus signs of systemic vascular disease, Occlusive arterial disease in the eye, Occlusive venous disease in the eye, Vasculitis, and Neuroophthalmic complications of intracranial vascular disease. Each chapter closes with a summarizing section. There is little to criticize adversely in this textbook for it is written in the clear and concise style that characterizes Dr. Cogan's previous works. The technique of ophthalmodynamometry in Figure 22 portrays the application of the instrument to the nasal sclera, which is cumbersome and inaccurate. Application to the lateral sclera is the normal method. Furthermore, the Bailliart dial ophthalmodynamometer shown in the same illustration is the most inaccurate and least reliable of the available models. Figure 65 shows a typical fibrin-platelet embolus at a fork of a retinal arteriole but labeled retinal arteriosclerosis. In Figure 88, a calcine or fibrin-platelet embolus lodged in the fork of the central retinal artery in the center of the optic disk is disregarded as the cause of occlusion of the central retinal ar tery. But these are minor exceptions, in an otherwise fine book, recommended not only for ophthalmologists but anyone concerned with systemic vascular disease. ROBERT W .
HOLLENHORST
BLINDNESS AND THE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF THE
BRAIN:
ELECTROENCEPHALOCRAPHIC
STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF SENSORY IM
By L. A. Novikova. New York, American Foundation for the Blind Inc., 1974. Paperbound, 341 pages, table of con tents, bibliography, 144 black and white figures. $5.75 PAIRMENT.
In the early days of electroencephalography, there was often the question as to
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
correlations that did not seem sensible." A necessary but obviously risky maneuver. The examples cited occurred in otherwise interesting and valuable papers. It was not my purpose to embarrass their authors, who are among our most respected investigators, but to indicate that the printed word is not necessarily holy writ. It is possible to re view most articles critically, keeping these basic principles in mind. It is imperative, however, that authors provide us with suffi cient description of their methodology and data to permit such an analysis. If they do not, we must be guarded in accepting their results.
ALFRED SOMMER
JUNE, 1975
WHITE-TRANSLUCENT BURIAN-AIXEN CONTACT LENS ELECTRODE FOR HUMAN ELECTRORETINOGRAPHY
Editor: The Burian-Allen contact lens is widely used in clinical electroretinography. As manufactured, the central corneal contact lens is made of clear acrylic plastic* The modification consists of replacing the clear lens with a white translucent lens, also of acrylic plastic. The translucent lens increases light dispersion to the interior of the eye and provides ganzfeld (whole field) retinal stimulation (Figure).
REFERENCES
1. Crisp, W. H.: On editing our own manu scripts. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 13:907, 1930. 2. Edwards, W. C, and Layden, W. E. : Mon ocular versus binocular patching in traumatic hyphema. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 76:359, 1973. 3. Watzke, R. C, and Leaverton, P. E. : Light coagulation in presumed histoplasmic choroiditis. Arch. Ophthalmol. 86:127, 1971. 4. Acers, T. E.: Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis: A double blind therapeutic study. Arch. Ophthalmol. 71:58, 1964. 5. Weber, J. C, Schlaegel, T. F., Jr., and Golden. B.: Statistical correlation of uveitis syn dromes with virus titers. Am. T. Ophthalmol. 78: 948, 1974. 6. Berkow, J. W., Patz, A., and Fine, S. : A follow-up of blind diabetic patients. Ann. Oph thalmol. 7:79, 1975. 7. Shields, J. A., and McDonald, P. R.: Im provements in the diagnosis of posterior uveal melanomas. Arch. Ophthalmol. 91:259, 1974. 8. Yasuna, E. : Management of traumatic hyphema. Arch. Ophthalmol. 91:190, 1974. 9. Hoyt, W. F., Frisen, L., and Newman, N. M. : Fundoscopy of nerve fiber layer defects in glau coma. Invest. Ophthalmol. 12:814, 1973. 10. James, W. A., Jr., and L'Espérance, F. A. : Treatment of diabetic optic nerve neovascularization by extensive retinal photocoagulation. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 78:939, 1974.
CORRESPONDENCE Letters to the Editor must be typed double-spaced on 8Y2 X 11-inch bond paper; with Vis-inch margins on all four sides, and limited in length to two manuscript pages.
Figure (Pearlman). Modified white-translucent Burian-Allen contact lens electrode.
I am indebted to John Dowling for this suggestion. The idea is not new and Profes sor Dowling did not claim originality for it. Other workers may, indeed, currently be using a similar or identical device, but knowl edge of it among clinicians does not seem to be widespread. The application works well, and we have been able to obtain larger electroretinographic responses to different stimu lus intensities, without having to modify our existing laboratory equipment. This simple ♦Hansen Ophthalmic Development Laboratory, P.O. Box 613, Iowa City, IA 52240.
VOL. 79, NO. 6
BOOK REVIEWS
change precludes the need to install a hemi spheric bowl for ganzfeld stimulation within the shielded enclosure where testing is con ducted. Formerly, we presented the stimulus light in Maxwellian view (light focused in the plane of the pupil) via fiber optic wave guides and condensing lenses. The loss of light intensity by the fiber optic system is considerable. The stimulus efficiency is in creased by making the above change. JEROME T. PEARLMAN,
M.D.
Los Angeles, California
BOOK REVIEWS OPHTHALMIC MANIFESTATIONS OF SYSTEMIC VASCULAR DISEASE. MAJOR PROBLEMS IN
vol. 3. By David G. Cogan. Camden, New Jersey, W. B. Saunders, Co., 1974. Clothbound, 187 pages, table of contents, bibliography, 118 black and white figures. $11
INTERNAL MEDICINE,
This is the third volume of a series of 24, edited by Lloyd H. Smith, Jr. A list of the subject matter of future volumes is printed opposite the title page and it includes a variety of disorders. The editor could not have selected a more qualified author to write volume 3, and the results are excellent. Systemic vascular dis ease so commonly involves the ocular struc tures that this text should be valuable to all medical disciplines concerned with any phase of vascular abnormalities. Although the text comprises only 154 pages with 118 illustrations, there is an ex tensive bibliography of 709 references. The descriptions of the ocular manifestations in general are brief but complete and are ref erenced toward further reading. The index is detailed. The illustrations are of unusual clarity. The nine chapters, each further subdivided are: External ocular signs, Fundus, Sig
1057
nificance of fundus signs, Subjective symp toms and visual field abnormalities, Fundus signs of systemic vascular disease, Occlusive arterial disease in the eye, Occlusive venous disease in the eye, Vasculitis, and Neuroophthalmic complications of intracranial vascular disease. Each chapter closes with a summarizing section. There is little to criticize adversely in this textbook for it is written in the clear and concise style that characterizes Dr. Cogan's previous works. The technique of ophthalmodynamometry in Figure 22 portrays the application of the instrument to the nasal sclera, which is cumbersome and inaccurate. Application to the lateral sclera is the normal method. Furthermore, the Bailliart dial ophthalmodynamometer shown in the same illustration is the most inaccurate and least reliable of the available models. Figure 65 shows a typical fibrin-platelet embolus at a fork of a retinal arteriole but labeled retinal arteriosclerosis. In Figure 88, a calcine or fibrin-platelet embolus lodged in the fork of the central retinal artery in the center of the optic disk is disregarded as the cause of occlusion of the central retinal ar tery. But these are minor exceptions, in an otherwise fine book, recommended not only for ophthalmologists but anyone concerned with systemic vascular disease. ROBERT W .
HOLLENHORST
BLINDNESS AND THE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF THE
BRAIN:
ELECTROENCEPHALOCRAPHIC
STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF SENSORY IM
By L. A. Novikova. New York, American Foundation for the Blind Inc., 1974. Paperbound, 341 pages, table of con tents, bibliography, 144 black and white figures. $5.75 PAIRMENT.
In the early days of electroencephalography, there was often the question as to
