Vascular Surgery-2 Volume Set, 6Th Edition

VASCULAR SURGERY-2 VOLUME SET, 6TH EDITION

Editors: Robert B. Rutherford, MD, FACS, FRCS

Bibliographic Data: Elsevier, 2005. Imprint: W.B. Saunders Company. ISBN: 0-7216-0299-1, 2502 pages, hard cover, $299.00.

Reviewer's Expert Opinion

Description: This sixth edition of Rutherford's Textbook of Vascular Surgery now comes in two large volumes, with Web access and a separate companion review book. The previous edition was published in 2000. Purpose: The book aims to be the comprehensive reference textbook for vascular surgery, and it easily succeeds in that goal. Audience: The target audience is primarily practitioners and trainees in vascular surgery. The companion review book will be very appealing to trainees and those taking recertifying exams. Features: The book is edited and written by the most authoritative and distinguished American vascular surgeons. The data and opinions expressed are modern and mainstream. The chapters are clear and complete and contain many useful tables, figures, and a rich bibliography. The major addition to this edition is the availability of a Web version which is systemically updated. The Web version contains all the images and text in the print version plus the ability to search. The Web site is easy to navigate and is a pioneering and successful effort. I have used it several times and was very impressed with its updated contents. This is important, considering the rapid evolution of endovascular therapy and techniques. This is a thoroughly updated edition. The number of chapters in this edition totals 176, up from 166 in the previous edition. There are 20 new chapters-most of which are devoted to the coverage of endovascular procedures. There is now an entire section on basic endovascular techniques. The review book complements the textbook and covers each chapter with two to four questions with explanations to each of the possible answers. A lot of important events have occurred since the fifth edition and those are amply showcased in the surgical outcomes, gene therapy, and endovascular therapy chapters, to name a few. The chapters on vascular imaging have become more important because of the growth in endovascular procedures, and these concepts are well covered. Some, but not all, of the shortcomings of the prior edition have been corrected. The Dialysis Outcome Quality Initiative guidelines have been integrated into the hemodialysis access in this edition. The diabetic foot chapter, while updated, deserves to be longer than five pages, considering the volume of patients with this pathology that most vascular surgeons see. Assessment: Because of its sheer size, this reference textbook is not designed for a quick read of a topic. There are other books that suit that purpose. This is a comprehensive reference that covers every aspect of the field with hundreds of clear illustrations, including line drawings, compute tomographic scans, angiograms, and photographs. It should occupy the shelves, and now Web browsers, of every vascular fellow and surgeon wishing an authoritative knowledge of vascular surgery topics.

Reviewer:

Samer F. Najjar, MD

(Northwestern Memorial Hospital)