Connective Tissue Diseases

Focusing on management of adult patients, this visual reference for medical professionals describes connective tissue diseases (systemic autoimmune diseases) and gives notes on management. The book's two-column color layout features color and b&w diagnostic images and clinical photos on every page. The first chapter outlines a general approach to the assessment of patients with a suspected connective tissue disease, covering history taking, examination, and assessment of symptoms. The rest of the book is divided into chapters on systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, anti-phospholipid syndrome, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, systemic sclerosis, and the primary systemic vasculitides. These disease chapters give overview information on definition and classification, pathology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, management, and principles of drug treatment. Concepts are reviewed in numerous summary tables. Gordon teaches rheumatology at the University of Birmingham, UK. Gross teaches rheumatology at the University of Luebeck, Germany. Published by Clinical Publishing, UK, an imprint of Atlas Medical Publishing Ltd; distributed in the US by BookMasters. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)