Clinical Rheumatology: A Book Review

Abstract

This concise book on ‘Clinical Rheumatology’ has described all the important Rheumatology conditions and their management in adequate detail and lucid manner. It is likely to serve multiple goals by catering to a multitarget audience comprising undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, residents, and clinicians who wanted to gain practical knowledge. In addition, the book caters to orthopaedic surgeons, internists, physiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and rheumatologists. Day-to-day questions are answered in a knowledge format that can be applied straight away. Senior clinicians will find it as a ready reckoner to refresh their knowledge and teach. ‘Clinical Rheumatology’ book has come out as a reader-friendly, value for time book that I would highly recommend to all orthopaedic surgeons to have the insight and skill to manage rheumatology patients in their clinical practice.

Title of Book: Clinical Rheumatology

Author: Prof. Rohini Handa

Publisher: Springer

ISSN: 978-981-33-4884-4

Edition: First

Date of publication: 2021

Price: 145.59 Euros (Hardcover), 117.69 (E-Book)

Rheumatic diseases are common in the community, yet the teaching of Rheumatology is primarily marginalized in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula in India and many other developing countries. This leaves the young doctors inadequately trained and poorly prepared for the avalanche of cases with musculoskeletal (MSK) problems that they encounter in real life. In the same vein, there is a substantial unmet need for concise Rheumatology textbooks. The undergraduate books offer incomplete information, while the voluminous reference books are daunting for non-rheumatologists seeking to find practical, evidence-based information that will equip them to handle everyday clinical situations.

‘Clinical Rheumatology’ aims to fill this gap. The author, Prof. Rohini Handa, is a clinician with vast and varied experience and has served on the faculty of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, for over 2 decades. He is currently a Senior Consultant Rheumatologist at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. He has held several distinguished appointments in a career spanning four decades, as Dean Indian College of Physicians, Chair of the International League of Associations for Rheumatology, President of Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology, and the Indian Rheumatology Association. A clinician has lucidly written this book, who has vast and varied experience. The entire gamut of Rheumatology is discussed in 35 chapters. The introductory chapters deal with the bedside approach to a patient with MSK complaints and the commonly ordered laboratory investigations. Arthritides, connective disease diseases, vasculitides, and soft tissue rheumatism are discussed seamlessly. Common dilemmas and conundrums, like seronegative arthritis, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, and mixed connective tissue diseases have attracted separate chapters. The approach to connective tissue diseases is expounded in a fashion that is likely to appeal to all orthopedic surgeons. The author has pruned unnecessary detail. Some of the novel chapters include emergencies in rheumatology practice, pregnancy and fatherhood issues, and the contemporary problem of COVID. Tropical rheumatic diseases like chikungunya and dengue are adequately discussed. The last chapter listing reliable web resources is quite handy.

The emphasis of ‘Clinical Rheumatology’ is on concept building, where it seems to have admirably succeeded. The layout of the book is visually attractive, and the contents are intellectually satisfying. The liberal sprinkling of tables, flow charts, and boxes breaks the monotony of the text and makes for an easy read. Being a single-author text, the style consistency is maintained throughout. Clinical Rheumatology is available both in hardcover version and as E-Book.

The book is not without its shortcomings. A detailed reference list is not provided, and the chapters contain only a couple of essential references as suggested reading. While the table of contents is exhaustive, the index is conspicuous by its absence. I would have loved it more if its fonts were up by one or two sizes to avoid stress on the elderly eyes. Trial data is discussed shorn of full details. The author at places has embraced brevity over verbosity. While keeping with the international benchmarks in mind, the cost of the book is high for the Indian students, but a discounted price is available on Amazon as compared to the publisher’s website.

‘Clinical Rheumatology’ is likely to serve multiple goals by catering to a multitarget audience comprising undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, residents, and clinicians who wanted to gain practical knowledge. In addition, the book caters to orthopaedic surgeons, internists, physiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and rheumatologists. Day-to-day questions are answered in a knowledge format that can be applied straight away. Senior clinicians will find it as a ready reckoner to refresh their knowledge and teach.

On the whole, ‘Clinical Rheumatology’ comes across as a reader-friendly, value for time book that I would highly recommend to all libraries and all orthopaedic surgeons individually to have the insight and skill to manage rheumatology patients in their clinical practice (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Cover page of the book

Funding

None.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standard Statement

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

For this type of study informed consent is not required.