Book Review

Textbook of Pediatric Critical Care

N Engl J Med 1993; 329:1359October 28, 1993

Article

Textbook of Pediatric Critical Care
Edited by Peter R. Holbrook. 1228 pp., illustrated. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 1993. $145. ISBN: 0-7216-2352-2

In selecting a textbook, there are at least four questions we may consider: Is it the standard work in the field? Is it timely? What are the qualifications of the authors? How is the material presented? Although it may be unfair to compare a 1200-page book with a two-volume work of 1600 pages, anyone looking to purchase Holbrook's Textbook of Pediatric Critical Care would inevitably compare it with the 1992 edition of Rogers's Textbook of Pediatric Intensive Care (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins). Such comparison is useful and will bring us to the conclusion that no one textbook can be all things to all people.

I looked at the handling of two topics in evaluating the success of Holbrook's new textbook: the immunology and management of sepsis and septic shock and the management of acute respiratory failure. These were selected after I questioned my colleagues about areas in pediatric critical care that are undergoing rapid change. The table of contents directs us to a chapter entitled “Management of Pediatric Septic Shock.” It briefly discusses recent approaches to immunotherapy, and it contains an excellent discussion of oxygen delivery and use. Oddly, the use of pulmonary-artery-catheter data for the measurement of oxygen delivery and consumption was not cross-referenced in the index under pulmonary-artery catheterization. The index directs the reader to sections of another chapter on the use of pulmonary-artery catheters in hemodynamic pressure monitoring. Unless one looked in the index under “oxygen utilization -- in septic shock” one would not have known to look in the chapter on septic shock for a discussion of this important use of a pulmonary-artery catheter. Although Rogers's textbook does have a section on the pulmonary-artery catheter that pulls all of the material together in a more useful fashion, it should be noted that there is little discussion of recent approaches to the immunotherapy of sepsis syndrome.

Turning to acute respiratory failure, we find a section on adult respiratory distress syndrome in the chapter “Lung Parenchyma.” The discussion is reasonably complete, though it lacks cross-references to other sections that would be of interest to the reader. For example, there is a cross-reference to the chapter “Multiple Organ System Failure,” but none to the section on septic shock, which discusses oxygen supply and consumption. One must go to the index to be directed to other important chapters on mechanical ventilation, nutrition, the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and exogenous surfactant. The discussions of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in both textbooks are equivalent. High-frequency ventilation receives a more complete discussion in Rogers's textbook. Holbrook's book has an excellent chapter on the use of exogenous surfactant, whereas Rogers's has little on the topic and indeed concludes that it is “not useful.”

It is difficult to predict which textbook would be most useful in other areas. With respect to the care of children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, Rogers has a more complete discussion than Holbrook. On the other hand, Holbrook's book contains an extensive discussion of the pharmacology of cardiovascular support. A discussion of dopamine, for example, receives four pages, whereas less than a page is devoted to this topic in Rogers's book.

In summary, Rogers's book will probably be the benchmark against which other textbooks on pediatric critical care are judged, but Holbrook's book measures up well in a number of categories, surpasses in some, and lags behind in others. Published in early 1993, it is slightly more timely than the 1992 edition of Rogers's textbook. The overall quality of the authors is equivalent. The presentation of the material is consistent, though more extensive cross-referencing between related sections would assist readers in finding their way around Holbrook's book. My recommendation to those in pediatric critical care who are looking for a new textbook is that they look through both books to judge which they would find more useful. To neophytes, Holbrook's textbook will be more than adequate. If you can afford it, buy both. If you cannot, Holbrook's textbook serves as an attractive alternative to the larger and more expensive two-volume work of Rogers. Either way, you will not go wrong.

Robert M. Nelson, M.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226