Hemostasis and Thrombosis: Basic Principles and Clinical Practice
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
Thrombosis is the leading cause of death in the Western world, with more than half of the population dying of myocardial infarction, stroke, or pulmonary embolism. No longer merely the domain of hematology, the field of hemostasis and thrombosis is now an essential component of cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, pediatrics, vascular medicine, and surgery. Given the medical importance of hemostasis and the major advances in understanding its mechanisms, diagnosis, and therapeutics, Hemostasis and Thrombosis has been the gold standard among textbooks disseminating these advances since its debut in 1982.
The rapid expansion of knowledge makes the fifth edition of Hemostasis and Thrombosis a welcome replacement for the previous edition, published in 2001. Samuel Goldhaber has succeeded the retired Jack Hirsh as one of the editors, thus continuing the practice of adding new editors to bring energy and zest to new editions. This edition is an encyclopedic, comprehensive, and detailed presentation of the current state of the field.
The list of authors of the book's 123 chapters reads, for the most part, as a who's who in the field. The list has lengthened since the previous edition, and it is wonderful to see junior members of the field participating. New content has been added, and the book has grown in length by about 300 pages. Protein Z, thrombopoietin, platelet receptors, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and ADAMTS13 are all given special emphasis. The important interface with cardiovascular medicine, particularly atherothrombosis, is an outstanding addition; the sections on clinical thromboembolic events have been expanded considerably.
Inevitably, even in a comprehensive textbook, all of the answers cannot be found. To determine whether the contents could assist me with my clinical practice, for several weeks I read the sections related to each patient I saw. In an excellent section, I learned about the scope of bleeding in Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. What if the D-dimer level is incidentally found to be extraordinarily high in an otherwise healthy patient? The book had no answer. Warfarin-induced necrosis? The book had outstanding coverage. Anti–phospholipid antibody syndrome? The coverage of the topic was good. Easy bruising? The coverage was so-so. Von Willebrand's disease? The coverage was excellent. Factor V Leiden? The information on chemical analyses, laboratory diagnosis, and genetics was fine, but I could not find information on current recommendations for management in the index. The information may be there, but I could not locate it. Overall, almost all of my queries were addressed.
There are several opportunities for improvement in the next edition. Although the book is printed in two colors, the potential of the design is not fully realized. Titles and headings are highlighted in blue, as are the tables. However, all of the diagrams and illustrations are in black and white. The introduction of shades of black and blue into the complicated figures would have greatly improved transmission of the content. In short, color is used decoratively, not heuristically. However, there is a four-color signature at the beginning of the book — a structure typical of earlier texts. I was surprised that in this computer-based era, when textbook sales are dwindling, that the publisher has not provided readers with digital access to references and text searching. Although many people still do not want to read an entire book on a computer screen, opportunities for searching, index linkage, and access to references, for example, have been missed. Had they been provided, the search for answers to my clinical questions might have been more successful.
A finalized version of chapter 76 is not included because it was "not available at press time for inclusion in the book." Every multiauthored textbook of this scope has problems with the timely receipt of manuscripts, but there is routinely a plan for dealing with a missing chapter. It is not clear what subject is absent from the book, and I will always wonder whether the answer to an unsuccessful search was in that chapter.
These minor shortcomings notwithstanding, this is an outstanding, fairly priced book that remains the reference standard, providing a tremendous amount of current information on the subjects of hemostasis, thrombosis, and vascular biology at both the basic and clinical levels.
Bruce Furie, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA 02115(Fifth edition. Edited by )
The rapid expansion of knowledge makes the fifth edition of Hemostasis and Thrombosis a welcome replacement for the previous edition, published in 2001. Samuel Goldhaber has succeeded the retired Jack Hirsh as one of the editors, thus continuing the practice of adding new editors to bring energy and zest to new editions. This edition is an encyclopedic, comprehensive, and detailed presentation of the current state of the field.
The list of authors of the book's 123 chapters reads, for the most part, as a who's who in the field. The list has lengthened since the previous edition, and it is wonderful to see junior members of the field participating. New content has been added, and the book has grown in length by about 300 pages. Protein Z, thrombopoietin, platelet receptors, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and ADAMTS13 are all given special emphasis. The important interface with cardiovascular medicine, particularly atherothrombosis, is an outstanding addition; the sections on clinical thromboembolic events have been expanded considerably.
Inevitably, even in a comprehensive textbook, all of the answers cannot be found. To determine whether the contents could assist me with my clinical practice, for several weeks I read the sections related to each patient I saw. In an excellent section, I learned about the scope of bleeding in Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. What if the D-dimer level is incidentally found to be extraordinarily high in an otherwise healthy patient? The book had no answer. Warfarin-induced necrosis? The book had outstanding coverage. Anti–phospholipid antibody syndrome? The coverage of the topic was good. Easy bruising? The coverage was so-so. Von Willebrand's disease? The coverage was excellent. Factor V Leiden? The information on chemical analyses, laboratory diagnosis, and genetics was fine, but I could not find information on current recommendations for management in the index. The information may be there, but I could not locate it. Overall, almost all of my queries were addressed.
There are several opportunities for improvement in the next edition. Although the book is printed in two colors, the potential of the design is not fully realized. Titles and headings are highlighted in blue, as are the tables. However, all of the diagrams and illustrations are in black and white. The introduction of shades of black and blue into the complicated figures would have greatly improved transmission of the content. In short, color is used decoratively, not heuristically. However, there is a four-color signature at the beginning of the book — a structure typical of earlier texts. I was surprised that in this computer-based era, when textbook sales are dwindling, that the publisher has not provided readers with digital access to references and text searching. Although many people still do not want to read an entire book on a computer screen, opportunities for searching, index linkage, and access to references, for example, have been missed. Had they been provided, the search for answers to my clinical questions might have been more successful.
A finalized version of chapter 76 is not included because it was "not available at press time for inclusion in the book." Every multiauthored textbook of this scope has problems with the timely receipt of manuscripts, but there is routinely a plan for dealing with a missing chapter. It is not clear what subject is absent from the book, and I will always wonder whether the answer to an unsuccessful search was in that chapter.
These minor shortcomings notwithstanding, this is an outstanding, fairly priced book that remains the reference standard, providing a tremendous amount of current information on the subjects of hemostasis, thrombosis, and vascular biology at both the basic and clinical levels.
Bruce Furie, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA 02115(Fifth edition. Edited by )