Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery

in congestive cardiac failure, the authors mention the possibility that an as yet unidentified pyrogenic steroid allied to etiocholanolone may play an important role. However, the oruy study of lHaSI1lU levels ul trus steroid in patients with congestive cardiac failure as yet published gave no support to this suggestion. The only original work of the authors appears to relate to a study of intestinal absorption in 22 patients with congestive cardiac failure. Although demonstrating some evidence of malabsorption, the results are difficult to interpret because of a markedly deranged circulatory state and impaired renal ru nctrun. The question of protein-losing gastroenteropathy is briefly mentioned. After spending an hour with this little book, one wonders why it was published as a monograph and not merely as a paper on "Intestinal Absorption Studies in Congestive Cardiac Failure".