A Primer of Water, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Syndromes.

Dr. Goldberger, attending physician at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center and consulting cardiologist for the Lincoln and Misericordia Hospitals in New York, has divided his book into five parts. In the first part the author gives a very short outline of the physiology of body water. There is an excellent section on standard units of measure and equivalent weights as well as an explanation of the concept of osmotic pressure using simple language well suited for introducing the reader to these well known concepts.

In the second and third parts of this book, the different clinical situations associated with sodium and water disturbances are discussed. Classical and useful formulas to calculate replacement at the bedside for dehydration, sodium deprivation, and burns are given. Perhaps too much emphasis is placed upon the clinical use of the red cell as an osmometer to determine variations in osmotic pressure in states of water