Handbook of Liver Disease; Friedman LS, Keeffe EB; eds. 510 pages. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1998. $69.95. ISBN 0443055203. Order phone 800-553-5426.
Field of medicine: Hepatology.
Format: Softcover book.
Audience: Practitioners in primary care, gastroenterology, and hepatology and trainees, including medical students, residents, and fellows.
Purpose: To provide rapid access to information on all aspects of liver disease in a concise, practical format.
Content: The book is arranged by the major presenting syndromes of liver disease, complications of cirrhosis and liver failure, specific liver pathology, and liver-related issues in systemic conditions or situations.
Highlights: All chapters are structured in the same format, with key points and brief overviews that illuminate pathogenesis, diagnostic tests, and treatments. High-quality tables provide rapid access to information.
Limitations: Inability to provide practical guidelines when some currently used therapies for viral hepatitis have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may limit the usefulness of some of the information.
Related reading: As an alternative to the encyclopedic texts in liver diseases, two books are available: Kaplowitz's Liver and Biliary Disease, 2nd edition (Williams & Wilkins, 1996), and Sherlock and Dooley's Diseases of the Liver and Biliary System, 10th edition (Blackwell Science, 1997). Handbook of Liver Disease is also of high quality but is easier to handle; it provides faster access to the information sought by busy practitioners.
Reviewer: Daniel R. Ganger, MD, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
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