Leevy, C.M.

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1396 S.A. MEDICAL JOURNAL 6 July 1974Wereld Mediese Vereniging : World Medical AssociationINTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PHYSICIAN AND POPULATION CHANGEFrom 4 - 6 September 1974 in Stockholm, Sweden, the WorldMedical Association, in association with the World Federa-tion for Medical Education. the International Planned Parent-hood Federation and the World Health Organisation, will con-vene to provide a world forum in which the physician canexamine, with experts from other disciplines, the responsibili-ties and opportunities facing the physician in meeting thepresent world population challenge and to recommend actionto be taken by the physician as practitioner, family coun-sellor, teacher, organiser, research scientist and leader ofpublic thought and action.The conference will open with a keynote address by arecognised world leader of medical and social thought whohas intimate knowledge of the special relationship of thephysician to social change.Expert panels will introduce the following half-day dis-cussions: medicine and demography; family health, familyplanning and factors affecting fertility; the role and attitudeof physicians; the role of medical associations and medicaleducational institutions in population change.The closing session will briefly summarise conference dis-cussions, identify salient points made by participants andadopt a set of recommendations for incorporation in a reportthat will be widely circulated throughout the internationalcommunity as a guide to action. A closing address will bepresented by an international medical statesman.The conference on the Physician and Population Changewill be convened within the general framework of the 28thWorld Medical Assembly. It will be fully empowered tofunction as a self-standing conference, making its own deci-sions and recommendations. Participation will be open bothto those registered for the World Medical Assembly and tothose registered only for the conference. Further informationis available from the conference secretary. Sir WilliamRefshauge, Secretary General, The World Medical AssociationInc.. 10 Columbus Circle. New York 10019. USABoekbesprekingsLIVER CELL INJURY•• Book ReviewsARRHYTHMIASLiver Regeneration in Man. By C. M. Leevy, M.D. Pp.xiv + 112. Illustrated. $10,00. Springfield. lllinois: CharlesC. Thomas. 1973.This timely monograph, a compact, concise review, deals withthe morphological, biochemical and physiological responses toliver cell injury. Methods used for the assessment of liverregeneration are outlined. Regarding therapy. the authorstresses the elimination of factors that damage hepatocytes,the protection of uninjured hepatocytes and the stimulationof regeneration of hepatocytes. This is accomplished by thecorrection of deficient precursors and catalysts, together withthe suppression of circulating antagonists and the stimulationof hepatic RNA synthesis. The book should appeal to physi-cians and surgeons who have a special interest in hepatology.N.G.THE HISTORY OF A MEDICAL APPRENTICEThe Life and Fortunes of John Pocock of Cape Town1814 -1876. Compiled from his journals and letters byM. G. Ashworth. Pp. xii + 165. Illustrated. Cape Town:College of Careers. 1974.Private journals were seldom kept by our South Africanancestors. For this there may have been many sound andacceptable reasons. Nevertheless this deficiency remains re-grettable since knowledge of our social past is often in-adequate and, indeed, is riddled with hiatuses, most of which,alas, are unlikely to be filled. The publication of an oldjournal or series of letters is therefore always a significantevent and one welcomes this account of the life of a humblemedical apprentice at the 19th-century Cape.Since this record of the Cape social scene includes muchthat is relevant to the practice of medicine, it should appealto medical colleagues who have a leaning towards our SouthAfrican past.E.M.S.Extrasystoles and Allied Arrhythmias. 2nd ed. By D. Scherf,M.D., FAC.P., FA.C.C. and A Schott, M.D. (Heidelberg),FR.C.P. (Edinburgh), FAC.C. Pp. xiv + 1041. Illustrated.£16,00. London: William Heinemann Medical Books. 1973.The 20th anniversary in 1973 of the first appearance ofScherf and Schott's Exrrasysro!es and Allied Arrhyrhmias wasthe occasion of a second edition by the same authors. In anage of unpredictable international alignments this example ofcontinued Anglo-American co-operation is a hearteningphenomenon and the result is correspondingly impressive.Drs Scherf and Schott have reviewed a vast field of litera-ture in updating their book, as demonstrated by innumerablereferences throughout the volume. Their over-all approach isagain evident in a historical review before embarking on adiscussion on current views of the electrophysiological basisof impulse formation and conduction. The various types ofextrasystoles are described, followed by a di~cussion of par-arrhythmias. Atrial flutter and fibrillation are comprehensivelydealt with; the authors show bias against re-entry and circuspathways, though conceding that this may coexist with multi-centric impulse formation. For the clinician a chapter onextrasystoles, drugs and electrolytes will be of particular im-portance, also ensuing chapters dealing with clinical aspectsof extrasvstoles. Therapy was, in places. less impressivelyhandled. Thus the reviewer was surprised to note that for theprevention of extrasystoles in patients with myocardial infarc-tion, Scherf prefers digitalis next to lignocaine. An initial doseof 25 mg lignocaine intravenously to suppress ventricularextrasystoles seemed inadequate. and valuable time would belost by giving a lOO watt-second shock to a patient withventricular fibrillation. Inevitably, in a volume of this size,delay in publication prevents adequate consideration ofcurrent work such as bundle of His electrol!raphy.This is an authoritative and encyclopaedic work whichabounds in references up to 1970. It should be of interest toall cardiologists and physicians with an interest in cardio-logy.AS.

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