Respiratory Care.

"The aim of this book is improved patient care through the clinical application of the principles of respiratory physiology." If one judges the merit of a book by the extent to which it accomplishes the task the authors set for it, then Respiratory Care passes the test with distinction.

The slim, beautifully produced volume is a happy combination of lucidly presented physiologic considerations of ventilatory insufficiency and its consequences and useful practical information on a number of the skills essential to the successful management of patients with respiratory failure. Several of the special problems that lead to respiratory insufficiency are discussed in individual chapters with illustrative case reports. The emphasis throughout is on the importance of physiologic thinking in patient care. Of central prominence, and with good reason, is the concept of uneven ventilation in relation to blood flow as the most common cause of clinical hypoxemia. A knowledge of