Ischemic cerbrovacular disease

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2 Laplane D, Dubois B. Auto-activation deficit: a basal ganglia related syndrome. Move Disord 2001;16:810–14.

99 clinical presentation and stroke aetiologies are less successful. Except for coverage of cardiac investigations and prothrombotic states, these chapters are rather brief and general, and serve only as introductions to the subjects discussed. In the non-managementchapters, the authors seek to cover the waterfront and at least mention most things neophytes and non-stroke experts would want to look up. These non-management chapters are covered much better and in much more detail in other texts. The presentations are practical and are time locked to trials and results of treatment. There is little theoretical background or detailed discussions of anatomy, pathology,and pathophysiology. The attempt to cover all topics means that some are very scantily considered. The sections on vertebral artery disease, cerebellar infarction, and lacunar infarction are extremely brief. Many of the nonatherosclerotic conditions and cardioembolic sources are mentioned only in brief pithy paragraphs. Non-stroke experts would derive the barest information from the text but canlook up references. Unfortunately, most references are only to journal articles; references to monographs and review of topics considered scantily would also have been helpful. This book will be most useful to nonneurologists and non-stroke specialists who have the responsibility of managing patients with acute brain ischaemia acutely in emergency rooms and in hospitals. It serves as an excellentreference source concerning a wide variety of topics related to brain ischaemia, which are considered in more detail elsewhere. Louis Caplan

Channelopathies of the nervous system
Edited by M R Rose and RC Griggs (Pp 347, £60.00). Published by Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-7506-4507-5 Over the past few years there has been an explosion of knowledge regarding a group of diseasesthat have become known as the channelopathies. Like many new chapters of medical discovery it always seems obvious in retrospect. After all, ion channels are one of the most critical structures for normal neural activity. This cascade of new knowledge has now firmly established that dysfunction of both ligand gated and voltage gated ion channels may cause human diseases. The dysfunction either may becaused by autoimmune attack, such as myasthenia gravis, or may be the result of mutations in ion channel genes, such as the skeletal muscle channelopathies. In the main, channelopathies are disorders of excitable tissues and the nervous system is of course particularly affected. It is therefore timely that Channelopathies of the nervous system should be published to provide a snap shot of currentknowledge in this area. The editors state that their aim is “to inform both clinicians and neuroscientists as to the state of the art of neurological channelopathies, both clinically and scientifically”. I think this has been achieved through the contributions of 34 recognized authorities in various subfields of neurological channelopathies. The foreword is particularly informative and sets thescene very well for what is to follow. In the preface the editors acknowledge that the ultimate importance of channelopathies and of ion channel dysfunction remains to be determined. It is certainly true that all the channelopathies defined to date are relatively rare diseases. However, there is of course enormous expectation that ion channel dysfunction will be important in the most common paroxysmaldisorders: epilepsy and migraine. This remains unproved. The layout of the book is logical and generally user friendly. Each chapter stands more or less alone and as expected for a multiauthor text the styles vary. The book is divided into eight main parts: basic science, assessment of channel function (in vitro and in vivo), channel gene expression, genetic and acquired neuromuscular channel...