Editors: Mitchell S. Fineman, MD; and Allen C. Ho, MD. Series Editor: Christopher J. Rapuano, MD
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer | Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins – 401 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani

This is a compact, highly useful book on retinal disease which is handy enough to be carried in a lab coat pocket yet contains what the editors describe as “enough focused detail to provide the framework of our thinking on: important clinical signs, associated clinical signs, differential diagnosis, diagnostic evaluation, and prognosis and management of hundreds of vitreoretinal conditions.”

This book covers nine types of retinal disease in as many chapters. Here’s an overview:

  1. Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  2. Macular Diseases
  3. Diabetic Retinopathy
  4. Retinal Vascular Disease
  5. Retinal Degenerations and Dystrophies
  6. Retinal and Choroidal Tumors
  7. Congenital and Pediatric Retinal Diseases
  8. Traumatic and Toxic Retinopathies
  9. Peripheral Retinal Disease

This is a very useful book in at least two ways: as an atlas and as a collection of synopses or brief descriptions of diseases and disorders pertaining to or affecting the retina.

It is an atlas containing over 400 images (about 300 color and 100 black and white) digitized from a high-resolution RGB (red-green-blue) photos of at least 1500 pixels by 1200 pixels. Drs. Fineman and Ho endeavored to present the images in the highest quality native colors and contrasts, and they have succeeded in that effort.

Each of the various eye conditions shown in the book contains a synopsis. For example in chapter 3 on Diabetic Retinopathy, the author James F. Vander starts out with a brief paragraph stating what this disease is.

He writes: “diabetic retinopathy encompasses a broad range of fundus manifestations of diabetes mellitus.  This is a clinical term that includes exudative, hemorrhagic, ischemic, proliferative, and tractional manifestations of this retinal vascular disease. It can be arbitrarily divided into a nonproliferative and a proliferative form.”

These aspects of the disease affecting diabetics are presented in separate headings and discussed briefly in the chapter:

  • Epidemiology and Etiology
  • Pathophysiology
  • History
  • Important Clinical Signs
  • Associated Clinical Signs
  • Differential Diagnosis
  • Diagnostic Evaluation
  • Prognosis and Management

Some basic research findings on diabetic retinopathy are then presented in three tables entitled: diabetes control and complications trial (DCCT); early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS); and diabetic retinopathy clinical research (DRCR).

This book comes with access to the complete contents online, fully searchable, plus other valuable features.

Three simple steps to gain instant access:

  1. Visit http://solution.lww.com/willseyeretina2e
  2. Click on Register Now
  3. Follow the instructions and then enter your access code found on the inside front cover of your book.

This website is for individual use only. To get multi-user access, please call customer service at 1-800-468-1128 in the United States or 1-410-528-4000 outside the U.S. Or email  [email protected]. Publisher’s disclaimer: your online access is valid for the life of the print product. It is the discretion of the publisher to deactivate or modify the site at any given time.

This book on the retina is part of the Wills Eye Institute (Philadelphia) series Color Atlas and Synopsis of Clinical Ophthalmology that covers seven ophthalmic subspecialties: Cornea, Retina, Glaucoma, Oculoplastics, Neurophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Uveitis.

Series Editor:
Christopher Rapuano, MD is Director and Attending Surgeon, Cornea Service; and Co-Director, Refractive Surgery Department at Wills Eye Institute. He is also Professor of Ophthalmology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Editors:
Mitchell S. Fineman, MD is Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University; and Attending Surgeon at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Allen C. Ho, MD is Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University; and Attending Surgeon at Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Section Editors:
Gary C. Brown, MD
Franco M. Recchia, MD
Carl D. Regillo, MD
James F. Vander, MD

Contributors:
J. Luigi Borillo, MD
Richard S. Kaiser, MD
Nikolai J.S. London, MD
Mithlesh C. Sharma, MD