Practical Diagnosis and Management of Orbital Disease. John S. Kennerdell, Kimberley P. Cockerham, Joseph C. Maroon, William E. Rothfus. Boston: Butterworth‐Heinemann, 2001. Pages: 232. Price: 60. 00. ISBN 0‐7506‐7260‐9.

Practical Diagnosis and Management of Orbital Disease. John S. Kennerdell, Kimberley P. Cockerham, Joseph C. Maroon, William E. Rothfus. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001. Pages: 232. Price: 60. 00. ISBN 0-7506-7260-9. This book is an excellent example of a concise, clinically oriented text on orbital disease. Case reports, illustrations, and clinical facts help the reader understand orbital disease in a clinical setting. The book is not a comprehensive, histologic text on orbital disease, and it is not meant to be. One of the best features of the book is the illustrations of computed tomography (CT) scans, which point out exactly what is important. Illustration of CT scans helps clarify what sometimes can be blurry images of real CT scans often seen in textbooks. The book is divided into five parts. Part one discusses diagnosis and management of orbital disease. History taking pertinent to orbital disease is detailed. Examination techniques both simple and complex are also included. General management principles are discussed separately with regards to specific disorders such as observation, chemotherapy, radiation, and antibiotics. Part two discusses orbital inflammation and infection. One chapter is dedicated to each topic, which includes infection, cellulitis, abscesses, mucoceles, and cavernous sinus thrombosis. The chapter on orbital inflammation includes nonspecific, specific, and unusual types of inflammation. There is also a comprehensive chapter dedicated to dysthyroid orbitopathy. Surgical illustrations of orbital decompression are found in this chapter. Excellent case reports and illustration of CT scans greatly assist comprehension of the topics discussed. Part three covers primary, secondary, and metastatic tumors of childhood. These chapters are short, but cover a large number of different tumors. Twelve color plates of various conditions throughout the book are located between part three and four. These twelve color plates are the only color plates used in the text. Part four is the largest section of the book. It is titled Orbital Tumors of Adulthood. Whole chapters are given for lymphoid, epithelial, vascular, and neural tumors. A chapter on unusual tumors as well as secondary and metastatic tumors completes part four. Part five details surgical approaches to the orbit with respect to anterior, lateral, medial, and extraorbital approaches to orbital tumors. Surgical diagrams outline step-by-step procedures, and there is one page that shows pictures of instruments used in orbital surgery. The quality diagrams make it easy to interpret orbital anatomy. A standard index is included at the end of part five. The strong point of the book is the clinical approach to orbital disease, which includes the use of CT illustrations, case reports, and color plates. The numerous amounts of figures and photographs throughout the text help in the understanding of orbital disease in a clinical setting. Recommended readings relating to the topics discussed are given at the end of each chapter. With the inclusion of surgical techniques, the text can carry the reader from diagnosis to management and treatment. This book is a useful clinical tool for an optometrist or ophthalmologist who wants a clinical approach to orbital disease and not a long comprehensive text. I found this book to be the text on orbital disease, which also helped my understanding of CT scans, that I had hoped someone would someday write.