Principles of Polysomnography

By William H. Spriggs

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972778403
• ISBN13: 9780972778404
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Sleep Management Services
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 3.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good book, could use some improvements.

I think I can give a fairly accurate review of this book, as I have actually read it cover to cover. This was my introduction into sleep medicine, though I am a respiratory therapist so I have some background in a few of the topics covered. I read it on my own, not as part of a class. Some of the polysomnograms shown as examples were not labeled. You didn't know what each line was a recording of, and this made the point unclear. Some of the questions, when referencing a polysomnogram, seemed to contradict what the tracings were actually showing. No explanations for this were given. The discussion of the EEG tracings could have been better. Whenever they showed EEG tracings, they rarely discussed the finer points on how to tell them apart. The discussion of scoring in general could have been better. This is probably the hardest part of sleep medicine, scoring the readings. The video disk CD-ROM has such poor picture quality that some things are impossible to see. They demonstrate EEG placement on a glass head, but you cannot see any of the markings they are making on the head. A white head would have shown the markings better, but still the poor picture quality would have made it difficult. The narration would have benefited from having a decent voice talent, but it is generally audible. Even with these shortcomings, the video disk is a powerful aid to learning and it would be hard for any polysomnography book to beat this one without videos. At the end of each chapter are questions with explanations. This is probably the best part of the book. I have found no better way to learn than having good questions with explanations (not just answers). One thing that bugged me is that many of the questions are on topics not covered in the text. The author justifies this by saying this is to encourage readers to use other study materials. I find this questionable for a textbook that hails itself as "A complete training manual for sleep technicians". I think it would be more accurate to say that it is a textbook. I also doubt that readers will actually spend many hours rifling through various sources trying to find the answers, or that doing so would be an efficient way to learn. Overall, I think it is a good book. My report may seem to be a bit negative, but my view is slanted because I did not have the benefit of reading this book in conjunction with formal classroom instruction and lab activities. Even so, I did gain a very solid conceptual understanding which says something about the book. The questions with explanations really help solidify the concepts, and show that the author seriously wants the reader to learn. When I am king all textbooks will have many questions with explanations. [...]