Hypertension: Evaluation and Treatment; Frohlich ED. 212 pages. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1998. $45.00. ISBN 0683303430. Order phone 800-638-0672.
Field of medicine: Cardiology and primary care medicine.
Format: Hardcover book.
Audience: Primary care physicians, cardiologists, medical students, residents, and fellows interested in a clear, concise description of hypertension and its treatment.
Purpose: To explain the causes, pathophysiology, and treatment of hypertension.
Content: This book provides a concise yet thorough summary of the subject of hypertension. It begins with basic pathophysiology and proceeds through clinical evaluation of the disease. It covers current guidelines for the treatment of hypertension with emphasis on the JNC VI recommendations and the importance of certain comorbidities. It also provides a concise summary of the different classes of pharmacologic agents, their mechanisms of action, and their side effects. The book ends by giving special consideration to patients with hypertension and cardiovascular or renal disease.
Highlights: Chapter four provides a well-written description of the clinical pharmacology of antihypertensive medications. It explains the different classes of medications, their mechanisms of action, and their side effects in an easy-to-read, time-conserving fashion. Chapter five presents the JNC VI guidelines for the treatment of hypertension and a simple, one-page algorithm that is easy to understand. A useful chart lists the possible causes of lack of response to therapy. Chapter five also has tables that explain the rationale for using certain antihypertensive agents in the presence of comorbid conditions. Chapter seven goes further in discussing the hypertensive patient with cardiovascular complications, covering left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular dysfunction, and the effect of antihypertensive treatment in patients with coronary heart disease.
Limitations: On the whole, the book makes good use of charts and tables. However, some charts and tables showing multifactorial risk factors for stroke and end-stage renal disease are difficult to read.
Related reading: This book explains the importance of hypertension and its treatment succinctly through the use of helpful charts and algorithms. Kaplan's Clinical Hypertension, 7th edition (Williams & Wilkins, 1998), also accomplishes this task but with significantly more text.
Reviewer: Keith McLean, MD, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois.
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