DEPARTMENTS
                                                                                                             Book Reviews
              Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment
              S.J. McPhee, M.A. Papadakis, and L.M. Tierney, Jr., eds.
              New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical, 2008, 1,673 pages, $69.95
                Medicineisanever-changingfield,andchangesinpatient             made to the chapters on ear, nose, and throat diseases; hy-
              treatment are required as new research and clinical experi-     pertension; disorders of blood vessels and lymphatics; and
              ence broaden our knowledge. This book is the 47th annual        protozoal diseases. The chapter on preventive medicine has
              volumeofasingle-sourcereference for practitioners in both       beenupdated,andtherevampedchapteroncancerdescribes
              hospital and ambulatory settings. The publisher and the 79      the latest advances in treatment. The chapter on common
              well-respectedexpertshavecheckedwithsourcesbelievedto           symptoms has been expanded to provide more information
              be reliable to provide information that is complete and         on treatment, and the chapter on palliative care has been
              generallyinaccordwiththestandardsacceptedatthetimeof            updated to focus on improved quality of life. Hundreds of
              publication.Thismostpopulartextbookininternalmedicine           drug-treatmenttablesareprovided,withindexedtradenames
              emphasizes the practical features of clinical diagnosis and     and updated prices, as well as diagnostic and treatment al-
              patient management.                                             gorithms that are extremely helpful to practitioners.
                The book is organized into 41 chapters, covering disease         In each chapter are the most current insights into symp-
              prevention, common symptoms, perioperative manage-              toms, signs, epidemiology, etiology, and treatment, high-
              ment, geriatric disorders, and palliative care. Also covered    lighting only the diagnostic and treatment tools pertinent to
              are disorders of the skin, eyes, and ears, nose, and throat;    clinicalpracticeforcomprehensivecareofpatientswitheach
              disorders of the lungs, heart, blood pressure, and blood        disease or disorder. This book is really on the essentials
              vessels and lymphatics; and disorders of the gastrointestinal   of diagnosis for most diseases or disorders. Streamlined
              tract, liver, biliary tract, and pancreas. Additional topics    authoritativereferencesprovideforfastaccesstoabstractsor
              include breast, gynecologic, and obstetric disorders; aller-    full-text articles on the latest medical advances, prevention
              gies; musculoskeletal, fluid, and electrolyte disorders; kid-    strategies, and cost-effective treatments.
              ney and urologic disorders; nervous system and psychiatric         Ibelievethatallprimarycareproviderswillappreciatethis
              disorders; endocrine disorders and diabetes; and lipid and      edition as a ready reference and refresher textbook, and
              nutritional disorders. Finally, common infections are cov-      physicians in other specialties, pharmacists, and nurses also
              ered, as are HIV and AIDS; viral, bacterial, spirochetal,       willwelcometheformatandscopeofthisbookasameansof
              protozoal, and mycotic infections; physical agents; poison-     referencing medical diagnoses and treatments. Medical and
              ing;cancer;geneticdisorders;andcomplementarymedicine.           other health professionals will find this book to be useful as
              There are online-only chapters reviewing chemotherapeutic       a basic reference. This book should prove to be a valuable
              andantibioticagents,diagnostictestingandmedicaldecision         addition to medical libraries and hospital clinics.
              making, basic genetics and immunology, and information
              technology in patient care.                                                                                  E. Edmund Kim
                Thisedition includes 8 pages of color images demonstrat-                                      M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
              ing skin and eye disorders. Extensive revisions have been                                                      Houston, Texas
                COPYRIGHT ª 2009 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc.
                DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.108.056002
                                                                                                                   BOOK REVIEWS        165