Diseases of the Liver and Biliary Tract

The authors intend this book to be "streamlined to the needs of the clinician," as suggested in the preface. Indeed, at a time when texts of hepatology are becoming heavier and multivolumed, this concise overview of the clinical aspects is a refreshing newcomer for the busy clinician who interacts daily with the challenge of hepatobiliary disease. Although the book is divided into four sections, the major emphasis is on disorders of the liver rather than on pathophysiology (the last section). The first three sections are brief and crisp reviews of basic concepts, injury and repair, and evaluation of liver status. Since one of the three editors and four of the 29 contributors are surgeons, there is greater emphasis on surgical aspects than is found in some hepatology texts. This book differs from standard liver texts in being more concise, more practical, and more clinically oriented, with a minimum of pathophysiology.