BOOK REVIEW

For anyone searching for a meticulous, in-depth and highly comprehensive text on cataract surgery, Essentials of Cataract Surgery: Second Edition is what you’re looking for.

This is a 370-page book that covers everything from the preoperative evaluation to the management of postoperative complications. It provides both an overview of the procedure and the details needed to refine each step.

Written and presented more as a textbook than a handbook, Essentials is predominantly text. This is presumably based on the assumption that drawings and surgical photographs can be illustrative, but a well-written description of a particular procedure or concept might better help the reader understand and especially remember what she or he has read.

Particularly interesting and useful are the well-written surgical instructions, described in prose. “The keratome is then placed in the corneal groove with the heel down, flush with the ocular surface, and advanced approximately 2mm anteriorly, dissecting a plane through the corneal stroma. The heel of the blade is subsequently elevated off of the globe so that the tip of the keratome is directed toward the iris opposite the wound.”

This type of description allows the reader to imagine each step in his or her mind’s eye, mentally preparing the young surgeon. A full 14 pages are devoted to the capsulorhexis alone. This pocket-sized book is ideal for all ophthalmology residents learning cataract surgery, as well as fellows and early-career ophthalmologists looking to update their phaco knowledge.

OVERVIEW OF LASER PLATFORMS

For those who have mastered traditional phacoemulsification, femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery is a potential next step.

However, it’s easy to get lost amid the frenzy of activity surrounding the new technology. Femtosecond Cataract Surgery, by Drs Federica & Luca Gualdi (Jaypee Publishing), seeks to clarify the latest developments.

The strength of this text lies in its overview of the different laser platforms available: the LenSx (Alcon), the Victus (Bausch & Lomb), the LensAR (Topcon), the Catalys (Abbott) and the LDV Z8 (Ziemer).

After a quick overview on femtosecond cataract surgery, each platform is described in its own chapter, entitled “Description of the Device, Procedure and Clinical Experiences”.

The following chapter focuses on how to use each laser in challenging cases and how to avoid complications with each one.

Generously illustrated with surgical photographs and screen shots of crucial settings and the surgeon’s “personal preferences”, this book is intended for any ophthalmologist interested in the potential possibilities offered by the femtosecond laser.