Rhinologic Diagnosis and Treatment (Rhinology andSinusology series), edited by Thomas V. McCaffrey, 412 pp, withillus, $79, New York, Thieme Medical Publishers (telephone:800-782-3488), 1997, ISBN 0-86577-619-9

Type of Book: A comprehensive multiauthored textbook onrhinologic diagnosis and treatment.Scope of Book: This book provides an in-depth discussion ofmany of the factors involved in obtaining an accurate history,performing an adequate evaluation, correctly diagnosing a widevariety of rhinologic and sinus disorders, and instituting appropri­ate management.Contents: The book has 19 chapters. The initial chapters reviewthe histopathologic features of the olfactory mucosa, the olfactoryevaluation, imaging of the nasal airway, diagnosis , and normalphysiology. The subsequent chapters focus on specific diseaseentities that affect the nose and sinuses, ranging from nasal aller­gies to various infections, complications, tumors, and trauma.Each chapter is thorough, well organized, and comprehensive.Strengths: This volume provides excellent coverage of all as­pects of the evaluation of the nose and sinuses and every type ofdisease that can affect this organ system.Deficiencies: I found no obvious deficiencies.Recommended Readership: This text should be read by everyphysician who treats patients with nasal and sinus disorders. It is"must reading" for otolaryngologists but would also be useful toprimary-care physicians, radiologists, and neurosurgeons.

Overall Grading: *****Dale H. Rice, M.D., Department of Otolaryngology-Head andNeck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,California

Acute Care Psychiatry: Diagnosis & Treatment, edited byLloyd I. Sederer and Anthony J. Rothschild, 577 pp, with illus,$62, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins (telephone: 800-638-0672),1997, ISBN 0-683-30006-7

Type ofBook: A comprehensive multiauthored textbook on thediagnosis and treatment of acute mental illness.Scope ofBook: This book presents a wide-ranging discussion ofthe science and practice of acute-care psychiatry in the inpatient,outpatient, and home-care settings.Contents: The volume is divided into three main sections. Thefirst section reviews psychiatric assessment and intervention andintroduces the "Four Questions" format that is used in the discus­sion of specific mental disorders in section II A. The "FourQuestions" method for the assessment of acutely ill patients con-,sists of the following components: (1) descriptive and differentialdiagnosis, (2) the ego defenses, (3) current stressors, and (4)problems that must be addressed to restore safety and equilibrium.Section II B describes specific interventions and treatments, in­cluding case management and home-based care. The administra­tive aspects of acute-care psychiatry are detailed in section III.

MayoClinProc 1998;73:196-200

Grading Key

***** = outstanding; **** = excellent;*** =good; ** =fair; * =poor.

Strengths: The book is comprehensive, well written, and appro­priately focused for the current practice climate. The editors' useof a common format (the "Four Questions") has achieved a conti­nuity that is rare in multiauthored texts.Deficiencies: Although some redundancy characteristic of manymultiauthored volumes is evident, the richness of the materialeasily compensates for this shortcoming.Recommended Readership: Psychiatrists, primary-care physi­cians, and nonphysician mental health professionals will find thisvolume helpful.

Overall Grading: ****Richard E. Finlayson, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Psy­chology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, Minnesota

Neuroimmunology for the Clinician, edited by Loren A. Rolakand Yadollah Harati, 440 pp, with illus, $95, Newton, Massachu­setts, Butterworth-Heinemann (telephone: 800-366-2665),1997,ISBN 0-7506-9616-8

Type of Book: A comprehensive multiauthored review of thebasic principles of immunology and immunosuppressive drugtherapy that focuses on neurologic diseases and systemic autoim­mune diseases with neurologic complications.Scope ofBook: This textbook thoroughly addresses the immuno­logic diseases that affect the nervous system.Contents: The editors made a wise strategic decision whenorganizing the book-they required all authors to follow a similarformat, a stipulation that minimized the inevitable differences inwriting style inherent to multiauthored texts. Each chapter beginswith an overview of the clinical features of the disease, includes asection on diagnosis (especially the use of immunologic studies),and concludes with a section on current immunosuppressivetherapies. Almost without exception, the chapters are extensivelyreferenced with both classic and current citations. The bookaddresses 20 major topics. Predictably, the common, putativeneuroimmunologic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis,myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, are well cov­ered. In addition, rare yet important neuroimmunologic diseasessuch as stiff-man syndrome, primary angiitis of the nervous sys­tem, and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome are reviewed, asare the neurologic manifestations of common systemic autoim­mune diseases, transplantation, paraneoplastic syndromes, andacquired immunodeficiency states. The chapters on psycho­neuroimmunology and narcolepsy are well done, but their inclu­sion is unexpected in view of the uncertain relevance of thesetopics to "mainstream" neuroimmunology. Nonetheless, thechapter on psychoneuroimmunology provides practical advicethat will be useful to physicians who treat patients with thesechronic illnesses. The author of the chapter on narcolepsy empha­sized that insufficient evidence is currently available to concludethat this disease is immunologically mediated. Throughout thetext, many complex immunologic principles are reviewed in away that will be readily understood and appreciated by busy

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