See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/246810247

Clinical Chemistry: Theory, Analysis, Correlation, 4th ed. Lawrence A.

Kaplan, Amadeo J. Pesce, and Steven C. Kazmierczak, editors. St. Louis, MO:
Mosby, 2003, 1179 pp., $86.95. IS...

Article  in  Clinical Chemistry · April 2004

DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2003.017731

CITATIONS READS

0 4,355

1 author:

Oswald Sonntag
Bio-Rad Laboratories
93 PUBLICATIONS   437 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Guideline EP07 on interferences View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Oswald Sonntag on 21 September 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Book, Software, and Web Site Reviews
Clinical Chemistry: Theory, Analy-
sis, Correlation, 4th ed. Lawrence A.
Kaplan, Amadeo J. Pesce, and Steven
C. Kazmierczak, editors. St. Louis,
MO: Mosby, 2003, 1179 pp., $86.95.
ISBN 0-323-01716-9 (Book is accom-
panied by a CD-ROM).
Seven years after the appearance of
the last edition, the editors of this
very well-accepted textbook present
the fourth edition in cooperation
with 73 contributors. This is one of
the first clinical chemistry textbooks
published in the current millennium.
In their foreword, the editors state
that this book, although useful as
reference for clinical chemistry pro-
fessionals, is primarily written for
students and instructors of clinical
chemistry and laboratory medicine.
The text is organized into two
large parts, Laboratory Techniques
(23 chapters) and Pathophysiology
(34 chapters), and is accompanied by
a CD-ROM that includes additional
information. All of the details re-
garding methodology now appear
only on the accompanying CD,
which allowed the number of meth-
ods described to increase to more
than 115 and the content for each
method to be expanded. References
on the CD-ROM are now inserted as
popups. Also new are ⬃300 World
Wide Web addresses that the authors
believe are worthwhile for investiga-
tion; on the CD-ROM these ad-
dresses are in hyperlink format.
Many of the chapters in the text-
book have been updated and ex-
panded, but others have been re-
vised only by the addition of some
interesting webpages. For example,
in Chapter 28, on bone disease, ana-
lytes gaining attention since the last
edition, such as cross-links, are not
covered. On the other hand, some
new, and extremely important areas,
such as bioterrorism and the Human
Genome Project, have been included.
The chapter on urinalysis has been
greatly expanded on the CD-ROM.
The first parts of the book provide
a general foundation for the field of
clinical chemistry, covering details of
basic laboratory principles and tech-
niques, preanalytical variation, labo-
ratory management, laboratory auto-
mation, laboratory statistics,
interferences, and quality control.
These chapters provide adequate
definitions of technical vocabulary
and concepts and give sufficient ref-
erences to begin searching the subject
matter in depth.
The chapters on pathophysiology
form the main part of this book and
provide a thorough, carefully pre-
sented biochemical background for
each analyte, aided by information
on the CD-ROM. Well-drawn chem-
ical structures and informative tables
appropriately accent the text, and
figures emphasize and clarify impor-
tant issues in each chapter. However,
the sources that the authors used for
the reference intervals are not pro-
vided. The section on analytes con-
tains a multitude of pertinent facts
that may serve as a reference for the
clinical chemist. Details of their bio-
chemistry and function as well as
their clinical significance are briefly
noted, and in some cases, more clin-
ical background would be desirable.
Some newer analytes (e.g., high-sen-
sitivity C-reactive protein) and their
clinical importance are missing or
available only on the CD. Analytes
are arranged in chapters according to
organ system, providing the medical
background necessary to afford in-
terpretation in clinical chemistry. Ta-
bles and figures, such as laboratory
findings during normal and compli-
Clinical Chemistry 50, No. 4, 2004
cated pregnancy, are informative
and useful. Such sections condense
important information from a wide
range of scattered sources, making
this book an efficient reference
source.
The text reads easily and presents
abundant information in adequate
detail. Facts omitted in the text may
be found in the references, which
unfortunately are not always up to
date. Compared with the recently
published book by Lothar Thomas,
Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, this
book falls somewhat short in the
interpretation of test results. To close
this gap the CD-ROM offers numer-
ous case histories to learn and better
understand laboratory medicine and
clinical situations.
Finally, a section with more than
700 questions and answers is also
included on the CD-ROM. This sec-
tion is difficult to follow because
sometimes the possible answers are
given in numbers, whereas the cor-
rect answer is given by a letter.
For example:
[Question]16. Most drugs are ad-
ministered:
1. as a single dose
2. in a series of doses
3. at the time of diagnosis
4. at specified interval
The “correct” answer provided is
“c”.
or
[Question]33. Both atomic absorp-
tion and flame photometers use fil-
ters as the monochrometers:
a. true
b. false
The “correct” answer is again
“c”—a new dimension to true/false
questions!
Similar errors are to be found in
the text itself, including conversion
factors to molar units. Some of the
references are outdated (e.g.,
Young’s 1975 book on interferences
is cited rather than the latest edition
from 2000). These all serve to limit
the use of the book, which is in-
tended to be a primary text, and as
such, I cannot recommend it as a
reference book in the laboratory; stu-
dents may also be misled in their
studies as a result of the confusion.
In spite of these technical short-
789
790
comings, this book represents a good
overview of modern clinical chemis-
try and laboratory medicine. The
content is organized with care and
easy to use. The book contains theo-
retical and practical information, old
as well as new. I found that the
clinical part in particular needs im-
provement, and more details for in-
terpretation of laboratory results
are necessary. Evaluation of this
book with CD-ROM was a chal-
lenge for this reviewer because I
found it difficult working with two
different media simultaneously.
Read the book, then have a look at
the CD, then go back to the book.
Maybe this type of publication will
evolve to a complete CD-ROM text-
book in the future. Textbooks on
paper may disappear, and updated
versions may become available on
Internet in the future.
Oswald Sonntag
Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics GmbH
Scientific Department
Neckargemuend, Germany
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2003.017731
Principles of Forensic Toxicology.
Second Edition. Barry Levine, ed.
Washington, DC: AACC, 2003, 385
pp., $67.00 ($54.00 AACC members),
softcover. ISBN 1-890883-87-5.
This is the second edition of a book
intended as a text for students taking
a one-semester course in forensic tox-
icology or as a desk reference source
for laboratorians. The book consists
of 22 chapters written by 20 contrib-
utors, most of whom are well-recog-
nized authorities in this field. The
overall organization of the book re-
mains unchanged, with the chapters
grouped into three sections: Part I
(Introduction), Part II (Methodolo-
gies), and Part III (Analytes). Parts I
and II comprise approximately one-
View publication stats
Book, Software, and Web Site Reviews
half the book and Part III the remain-
ing half.
The first three chapters, Postmor-
tem Forensic Toxicology, Human
Performance Toxicology, and Foren-
sic Drug Testing, present an over-
view of each of these subdisciplines
of forensic toxicology and address
legal, preanalytical, analytical, and
postanalytical issues associated with
each area. Chapter 4, Pharmacokinet-
ics and Pharmacodynamics, presents
a concise but relatively complete dis-
cussion of the principles of pharma-
cokinetics and nicely illustrates their
application to the practice of forensic
toxicology by use of several case his-
tories.
Part II contains five chapters cov-
ering Specimen Preparation, Spectro-
photometry, Chromatography, Im-
munoassay, and Mass Spectrometry.
These chapters focus on the analyti-
cal methods used in the analysis
of drugs and toxins, including the
underlying scientific principles,
strengths, and limitations of these
methods. Part III is divided into
13 chapters covering Alcohol, CNS
Depressants, Opioids, Cocaine,
Marijuana, Amphetamines/Sympa-
thomimetic Amines, Hallucinogens,
Anticonvulsant and Antiarrhythmic
Drugs, Antidepressant Drugs, Neu-
roleptic Drugs, Carbon Monoxide/
Cyanide, Inhalants, and Metals.
These provide a nice overview of
each of the major classes of toxic
substances encountered by the foren-
sic toxicologist. The information pre-
sented includes source; nomencla-
ture; chemical structure; structure–
activity relationships; mechanism of
action; effects; pharmacokinetics;
concentrations encountered in blood,
urine, and other body fluids; preana-
lytical and analytical considerations;
and interpretation of results.
Compared with the first edition of
1999, the most noticeable change is
the addition of two new chapters:
Anticonvulsant and Antiarrhythmic
Drugs and Neuroleptic (Antipsy-
chotic) Drugs. In spite of these addi-
tional chapters, this second edition is
nine pages shorter than the first be-
cause of increased print density and
a substantial size reduction for most
of the figures and tables. Several of
the chapters have been updated; for
example, the chapter on alcohol now
contains a section on legal and regu-
latory applications, and information
on ␥-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and
ketamine has been added to the
chapters on central nervous system
depressants and hallucinogens, re-
spectively.
The material presented appears to
be appropriate for a graduate, or
upper-level undergraduate, intro-
ductory course in forensic toxicol-
ogy. This book would also be useful
as a review tool for those studying
for board certification examinations
in toxicology or as a quick desk ref-
erence for laboratorians working in a
clinical chemistry or toxicology labo-
ratory who are frequently consulted
with questions about overdoses and
poisonings.
Salvador F. Sena
Danbury Hospital
Danbury, CT 06810
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2003.025932