Merritt's Neurology, 12th Edition Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9780781791861 ISBN-10: 0781791863 Copyright: 2010 Edition: 12th Editors: Rowland, Lewis P., Pedley, Timothy A., Doody's Expert Review    Score: 77 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Dan Capampangan,  MD  (Mayo Clinic Arizona) Description This is the twelfth edition of a comprehensive yet concise reference about most neurological disorders. The previous edition was published in 2005. Purpose It is intended as a general reference textbook of neurology. It provides a quick and succinct overview of certain neurological conditions. Most chapters are organized in a manner that allows discussion for a disease process, differential diagnosis, laboratory studies, imaging findings, and treatment all in one to 10 pages. Audience The authors suggest the book will appeal to medical students, residents, practicing neurologists, non-neurology clinicians, nurses, and other allied healthcare professionals. Subspecialty neurologists also will find this book useful for general overviews of common and somewhat uncommon neurological conditions that may be outside the scope of their practice. Features The book is well categorized into neurological sections, each with its own subchapters on specific diseases. For example, the section on demyelinating diseases would have subchapters on multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. This edition is also available as an e-book, which allows readers the option of accessing it online instead of shelving a bulky textbook. Although some readers may initially find this relatively large book intimidating, it is written clearly and succinctly and, therefore, fairly easy to read. The radiographic images and tables supplement the text well. However, although this is intended as a general neurology textbook, it lacks specific algorithms to help guide management of patients with certain neurological conditions. Assessment This continues to be a classic general neurology textbook for anyone's neurological library. Other general neurology textbooks to consider are Neurology in Clinical Practice, 5th edition, Bradley et al. (Elsevier, 2005), Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology, 9th edition, Ropper and Samuels (McGraw-Hill, 2009), and Neurological Therapeutics: Principles and Practice, 2nd edition, Noseworthy (informa Healthcare, 2006). Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 8 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 3 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 2 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 2 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 2 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 3 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 8 ©2013 Doody Enterprises, Inc.