BOOK REVIEW

Comprehensive Clinical NephrologyAuthors: Richard J. Johnson and John Feehally

Publisher: Harcourt Publishers Limited, 2000

NEPHROLOGY IS a complex and ever-changing field. Textbooks abound and need

to be constantly updated to keep up with therelentless pace of new information. Comprehen-sive Clinical Nephrology represents a new addi-tion to the specialty.

Existing textbooks of nephrology can bebroadly divided into two categories: the firstcomposed of large, voluminous reference textsthat may not make for easy reading and thesecond, which provides only a skeleton of infor-mation and lack comprehensiveness. This text-book, which is aimed primarily at the nephrologytrainee and the practicing nephrologist, is a singlevolume, multiple author effort. It provides anexcellent, concise, and quick reference to thesubject.

The textbook is divided into 17 sections, whichare further organized into richly illustrated chap-ters. What distinguishes this textbook from itspredecessors is the liberal use of color to enhancethe clarity of diagrams and photographs andincrease its visual impact. The type used is pleas-ing to the eye. Mention should be made of theextensive use of tables throughout, leaving thetext freer to describe general concepts and spe-cific interactions of greater importance. Insteadof the traditional numbering of pages, the textuses a more unorthodox indexing of pages that issomewhat confusing to the reader. The list ofreferences is concise rather than exhaustive andslanted towards the authors. For more extensiveand in-depth references, the reader would be welladvised to consult a bigger, more traditional text.

The sections on fluid and electrolyte disordersare handled with brevity, and the physiologymay, at times, be cryptic. Readers may want to

use a separate text on fluid and electrolytes tosupplement their reading. The coverage of pri-mary and secondary glomerular diseases is excel-lent and sufficient to stand alone.

The section on acid-base status in pregnancyis very short, covered in only one paragraph, andneeds further elaboration. Like many other text-books of nephrology (because of the constraintsof space), the section on dialysis lacks compre-hensiveness and would also need to be supple-mented by a manual of dialysis for completeness.

With contributors from many countries, thebook brings a global perspective to the field.Special mention must be made of the chapters ontuberculosis and schistosomiasis of the urinarytract, both of which are well written. Like manymultiauthored texts, the book suffers at timesfrom some variation in style and presentation,but overall the book is well edited.

The price of the book represents a significantfinancial burden to those who could benefit mostfrom it, namely trainees in the field. However,read together with a multiple-volume text as areference, the book is an excellent addition toany renal fellow or nephrologist’s personal li-brary.

Finally, a word of caution to the potentialbuyer—the reviewer’s copy of the book madeavailable to me was missing 30 pages while 30other pages were duplicated. Even though thiserror was not repeated in a second copy locatedat our library, the buyer would be well advised tocheck the book for missing pages prior to thepurchase.

—Apurv Khanna, MDClinical Fellow

Division of NephrologyDepartment of Internal Medicine

Texas Tech Medical CenterLubbock, Texas

© 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.0272-6386/00/3606-0027$3.00/0doi:10.1053/ajkd.2000.19851

American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol 36, No 6 (December), 2000: p 12861286