Clinical Physiology of Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders 5th Edition

Book Preface

The fifth edition of Clinical Physiology of Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders has been largely rewritten to include the many important advances that have been made and the controversies that have arisen in the past six years. As with the previous four editions, this book attempts to integrate the essentials of renal and electrolyte physiology with the common clinical disorders of acid-base and electrolyte balance. Its underlying premise is that these clinical disturbances can be best approached from an understanding of basic physiologic principles. Thus, Chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6 review the physiology of normal renal function and the effects of hormones on the kidney. This is followed by a discussion of the extrarenal and renal factors involved in the internal distribution of the body water and in the normal regulation of volume (sodium), water, acid-base, and potassium balance (Chapters 7,8,9,10,11,12). In addition to providing the foundation for understanding how disease states can overcome these regulatory processes, the initial chapters can also be used by first-year medical students studying renal physiology.

The material presented in these chapters presents the core of information that, in our opinion, the clinician should possess. Although relatively complete, it is not meant to be an exhaustive review. In those areas where controversy exists, we have chosen to note the presence of uncertainty and to refer the interested reader to appropriate references, rather than extensively reviewing each theory. Since the primary purpose of this book is to teach the reader how to approach clinical problems, the physiological discussions are correlated with situations in clinical medicine wherever possible.
The last section of the book (Chapters 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28) contains a separate chapter on each major acid-base and electrolyte disturbance. In addition to discussing etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, each chapter begins with a short summary of the pathophysiology of the specific disorder with cross-references to more complete discussions in the earlier chapters. Although this leads to a certain amount of repetition, it has the advantage of allowing each clinical chapter to be read independently of the other parts of the book, making the book easier to use by a physician dealing with an acutely ill patient.

Problems are presented at the end of most of the chapters in both the physiology and clinical sections. These problems are intended both to test understanding and to emphasize important concepts frequently misunderstood by physicians dealing with these disorders. The answers to these problems are presented in Chapter 29, and Chapter 30 contains a summary of important equations and formulas that are useful in the clinical setting.
We are extremely grateful to Colin Sieff, Donald Kohan, Philip Marsden, Evan Loh, Bruce Runyon, and Jess Mandel for contributing material to selected chapters, particularly 6, 16, 20, and 21.

NOTICE
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