Clinical Topics in Internal Medicine

Abstract

As the title implies, this small text explores selected topics in various disciplines of medicine. Certain chapters, such as Current Status of the Exercise ECG and Radionuclide Techniques in the Diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease, provide the reader with explicit information on the sensitivity and specificity of the tests in various settings as well as current recommendations on appropriate use of these important diagnostic tools. Other chapters, such as those on inhalation therapy, asthma, and topical steroids, focus more on therapeutics. Laboratory studies for the evaluation of thyroid diseases and rheumatologic disorders are dealt with in detail in separate well-written chapters. A more standard descriptive classification approach is used to discuss non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, glomerulonephridites, and hyperlipidemias. The latter chapter was disappointing in its failure to address critically the issue of long-term effectiveness of available treatment modalities in preventing morbidity and mortality and to make more justifiable recommendations on the population