The fifteenth edition of Arthritis and Allied Conditions captures the unprecedented advances during the past four years in fundamental insights and clinical knowledge relevant to the rheumatic diseases. The dynamic nature of our discipline is reflected in the changes made in this edition. There are nine chapters addressing new topics (cytokine inhibitors, potential biologic therapies, pain mechanisms and management, vasculitis classification, Wegener's and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa and microscopic polyarteritis, hypersensitivity vasculitis, Behcet's syndrome, and other vasculitis syndromes), and 36 chapters authored by new contributors. Comprehensive chapters on the epidemiology of the rheumatic diseases and analytic approaches for their clinical evaluations have been updated. These changes are consistent with the commitment to scholarly excellence and authoritativeness established by our predecessors, Dan McCarty and the late Joe Hollander.
Since the previous edition, substantial progress has been made in understanding of the structure and function of molecular and cellular constituents of the joint; elucidation of the structure and function of cytokines and their receptors, and pathways regulating their expression; mechanisms of inflammation; and the pathogenesis of tissue injury in the rheumatic diseases. A leader in the field, eminently qualified to interpret the significance of these advances, has authored each chapter dealing with the scientific basis of the rheumatic diseases.
New chapters on structure of joints, proteoglycans, and cytokines and their receptors; together with extensively updated chapters on collagen, cartilage, synovial cells, and acute phase reactants, provide contemporary treatments of these important topics. Chapters on cell adhesion molecules, complement, apoptosis, eicosanoids, and nitric oxide capture impressive advances in these important fields, which contribute to the pathogenesis of the rheumatic diseases. The molecular basis of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor diversity is concisely reviewed. Updated chapters on neutrophils, mast cells and eosinophils, macrophages, lymphrocytes and platelets provide new insights into the cellular basis of inflammation and tissue injury in rheumatic diseases. Rapid progress in delineating the genetic basis of the rheumatic diseases is evident in chapters on the HLA complex and the role of non-HLA genes in disease pathogenesis.
Improved understanding of the pathogenesis of several rheumatic diseases has facilitated the development of several new therapeutic approaches. Chapters on cytokine inhibitors, potential biologic therapies, and immunomodulatory agents record the considerable excitement and promise that these new approaches engender.
Rheumatoid arthritis, as the prototypic chronic inflammatory arthritide, is the focus of the fresh clinical section in this edition. Progress in understanding of the pathology, pathogenesis, clinical expression and treatment of RA is authoritatively captured in new and updated chapters in this section. Progress in surgical approaches for rheumatoid arthritis, as well as osteoarthritis, are extensively covered in a separate section.
Systemic lupus erythemotosis continues to captivate the interest of investigators and clinicians alike. Chapters on pathogenesis, clinical expression, and therapy of SLE capably record evident advances in our understanding of this disease. Progress in delineation of the role of bacteria in triggering the pathogenesis of certain rheumatic diseases is emphasized in chapters on reactive arthritis, enteropathic arthritides, and Lyme disease. An expanded section on vasculitis encompasses a wealth of clinical insights and provides an authoritative perspective for the consulting rheumatologist. An updated comprehensive chapter on osteoporosis capably covers pathogenesis and treatment of this common disorder.
Definitive chapters on pathogenesis, clinical features and therapy of osteoarthritis reflect exciting advances in understanding of this complex disease.
The fifteenth edition of Arthritis and Allied Conditions has been capably co-edited by Dr. Larry Moreland, an accomplished clinician and clinical investigator. Dr. Moreland will assume the editorship of the sixteenth edition of this textbook.
I deeply appreciate the outstanding efforts of the many authors who have contributed to this edition and faithfully captured the vitality of our discipline.
William J. Koopman M.D.
Foreword
As editor emeritus I am pleased to write the foreword for this fifteenth edition. There is surely no better history of rheumatology than this remarkable series of comprehensive texts. Distillation of current knowledge in this ever-burgeoning field into coherent and cohesive text has become ever more challenging. The discipline of rheumatology has expanded exponentially since the pioneering single-authored book by Bernard Isaac Comroe, chief of the arthritis clinic at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, appeared in 1940. Although his rank at that time was only Instructor in Medicine, he was clearly destined to become a star in academia like his brother Julius, who laid the scientific foundation of pulmonary medicine. Dr. Comroe based his book largely on information recorded in Rheumatism Reviews, a biannual publication begun by Philip S. Hench in 1936.
After Dr. Comroe's tragic death in 1945, Joseph Lee Hollander became chief of the arthritis clinic at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and assumed responsibility for the book, titling it Comroe's Arthritis. Joe recognized that the rapid growth of new knowledge in rheumatology could now best be presented as a multiauthored work. The fourth to eighth editions were largely written by Joe and his wartime colleagues at the Army Navy General Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Servicemen with arthritis or other rheumatic diseases were referred to this facility from all branches of the armed forces. Hospital staff included many of the nation's leading academicians and practitioners who later provided much of the impetus for the development of post-bellum rheumatology.
Russell L. Cecil in his foreword to the sixth edition in 1960 called Arthritis and Allied Conditions the Bible of Rheumatology. Robert M. Stecker commented in his forewords to the seventh and eighth editions in 1966 and 1972, respectively, that most physicians treating arthritis patients around the world had gained much of their knowledge from this textbook, which had already been in existence for a quarter century.
I became co-editor of the eighth edition in 1972 and served as editor of editions nine through twelve. Joe Hollander and I felt strongly that each subject should be addressed by the most qualified available author. Our responsibility was to identify the appropriate individuals and to provide the overall style, length, breadth, and depth of treatment of each subject and to keep overlap to a minimum. For coherent results, this requires one, or at most, two editors. Bill Koopman joined me as co-editor of the twelfth edition, and the baton was passed once again.
The quality of the thirteenth and fourteenth editions, under his expert guidance, has been superb. Larry W. Moreland is co-editor of this, the fifteenth edition, and will assume the sole editorship of the sixteenth edition, scheduled to appear in 2009. He will be only the fifth editor in the 70-year history of this book! Both Bill and I are looking forward to the new leadership and fresh vision that he will bring to the task.
In closing, I thank my friends and colleagues for their contributions and suggestions over the years, which have made our textbook preeminent in its field. It remains second to none. I feel privileged to have been a participant in this endeavor for 45 years; as a 'galley slave' to the sixth edition when I was a fellow at Penn with Joe Hollander and as a contributor to every volume thereafter. I sometimes wonder, though, if my golf handicap might be lower if I had not undertaken this labor of love!
Daniel J. McCarty M.D.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 2600 pages
- Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Fifteenth edition (September 22, 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 078174671X
- ISBN-13: 978-0781746717
- Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.9 x 3.7 inches
List Price: $359.00