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eBook/Digital Version available from:
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Score: 73 |
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| Clinical Synopsis of COVID-19: Evolving and Challenging |
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ISBN: 978-9811586804,
260 pages,
Hard Cover
ISBN-10: 9811586802 |
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| Copyright: |
2020 |
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| Edition: |
1st |
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| Editor: |
Prabhakar, Hemanshu; Kapoor, Indu; Mahajan, Charu |
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Specialties:
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Critical Care
, General Internal Medicine
, Infectious Disease |
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| Publisher: |
Springer |
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| List Price: |
$159.99 |
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| Google: |
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At A Glance
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Corona virus disease or COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 infection is the latest pandemic that has affected humans globally. The disease has manifested itself in several forms and is now the focus of research worldwide. corona virus disease, COVID-19, which is one of the most contagious diseases ever known. It includes topics related to basic sciences, such as the virology and pathophysiology of the SARS-CoV-2 disease. It includes chapters related to symptomatology of the disease and making diagnosis, preparation of the health care workers to deal with this global pandemic. The book includes chapters on anesthetic and intensive care management of COVID-19 disease victims as these topics are of vast importance. Additionally, it includes a chapter giving insight in to the ethical aspects of the issues raised regarding disposal of bodies of the victims, as this pandemic has taken many lives across the world. It includes a chapter on special considerations to patient population such as geriatrics, pediatrics and pregnant women. practitioners and clinicians in any field of medicine. It is also relevant for residents, trainees, fellows pursuing their courses in emergency medicine, anesthesia and critical care as well as postgraduates and even undergraduates. ready-reckoner and useful guide for physicians from varied specialties during their clinical practice.
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Reviewer:
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Derrick Antoniak,
MD
(VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System)
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Range
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Question
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Score
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| 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) |
3 |
| 1-5 |
Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) |
3 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the authority of the authors. |
4 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient illustrations? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. |
3 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the print quality of the illustrations. |
3 |
| 1-5 |
Are there sufficient references? |
5 |
| 1-5 |
Rate the currency of the references. |
3 |
| 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? |
4 |
| 1-10 |
If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? |
N/A |
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Reviewer:
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Derrick Antoniak,
MD
(VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System)
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Description
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| This book attempts to give a broad synopsis of COVID-19 with 15 chapters covering everything from the history of coronaviruses, to virology, diagnostic and therapeutic considerations, and other special considerations (ethics, special populations, etc.). A 16th chapter is a "Webliography." The book has a number of illustrations and tables, but has no online supplement or updated content. |
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Purpose
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| The authors state their intent as covering "all clinical aspects" of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This is a worthwhile but lofty objective. In some ways, there are aspects of the book that meet the objective. For example, the virology of SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to change significantly today or tomorrow. Also, the ethical challenges and other aspects of the pandemic are somewhat static and worthy of print. However, the diagnostic and treatment sections are ever changing. Even from the time I received the book to now there have been new guideline updates on tocilizumab, for example. The book also does not fit a single audience. As a physician, I found the virology to be cumbersome, while the treatment considerations were overly abbreviated in places. Other audiences may feel differently. |
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Audience
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| The stated intended audience is clinicians at any level of training. The majority of the text is certainly dedicated to clinically-relevant aspects of the disease. As a hospitalist caring for patients with COVID, not much of the book felt newsworthy to me, but I can certainly see benefit to other specialties or other medicine clinicians not caring for or familiar with intricacies of the disease, or for students or interns. The editors are all listed as professionals in "neuroanesthesiology and critical care." The contributing authors are from India, Nepal, Italy, Brazil, and the United States. |
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Features
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| The best aspect of the book is the description of clinical manifestations and complications. These were written in two chapters (i.e., a chapter for manifestations and one for complications), and I think this maybe could have been combined into a larger chapter for less redundancy. However, these chapters did a good job of delineating the myriad manifestations of the disease. The chapter on pediatrics was very short (perhaps appropriately?). There are chapters on pregnant women and geriatrics as well. The chapter on therapeutics is a compendium of facts rather than a concise guide to current therapy. This is the quickest-evolving aspect of the pandemic, in fairness, but I didn't care for the organization of this chapter. |
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Assessment
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| The CDC and NIH websites and UpToDate have much or all of this information in more detail and with more up-to-the minute revision. |
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