Principles and Applications of Intraocular Gas.

This beautifully illustrated 400 page book attempts to summarise the use of intraocular gases in ophthalmology. It is divided into 18 chapters ranging from the basic properties of gases through a variety of clinical uses of intraocular gas. The basic science is extremely useful, if not a little daunting, for this reviewer. The clinical section covers all aspects of vitreoretinal surgery as one would expect and also touches on some admittedly historical uses of gas in cataract and glaucoma surgery, the latter two being hidden in the last two chapters. As one would expect from an American textbook, there is a considerable amount of space spent on pneumatic retinopexy and, unsurprisingly to this British reviewer, very little spent on the D-ACE procedure. The list of complications of intraocular gas which is included in each of the chapters is a little repetitive and there is also a fair amount of cross referencing to previous chapters, which is slightly irritating.

Overall, however, I can thoroughly recommend this textbook, perhaps not for individuals but for all ophthalmic departments with a vitreoretinal interest and many of the chapters will be of great use to those juniors about to embark upon professional examinations.