John J. Kelly - Böcker

This 1998 book was the first to be dedicated to peripheral neuropathies of immune or infectious origin, which are now known to comprise a substantial proportion of disorders of the peripheral nerves. Many of the most important advances in the field were made by contributors to this volume. There are four sections, dealing with biology and epidemiology, patient evaluation, specific clinical syndromes known to be of infectious or immunologic origin, and therapy and management, including rehabilitation. Neurologists will welcome this comprehensive review of the field at the time of publication, which provides an overview of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of infectious and immune mediated neuropathies. It is directly relevant to the everyday management of patients, and will also meet the needs of the basic immunological researcher seeking a general overview.

Plasma cell dyscrasias are common causes of peripheral neuropathy. Peri- pheral neuropathy may be the first manifestation of multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, or monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Peripheral neuropathy occurs in more than one-half of patients with osteosclerotic myeloma. The hematologic disorders are such an important association with peripheral polyneuropathy that, for the last decade, we have obtained a metastatic bone survey and immunoelectrophoresis of serum and a 24-hour urine specimen on all patients older than 40 years with undiagnosed peripheral neuropathy. This textbook on polyneuropathies and plasma cell dyscrasia is welcome, because the subject is of considerable medical importance and because the authors are expert in these disorders. Kelly's studies have shown that a systematic search for monoclonal proteins in plasma and urine among patients with neuropathy of unknown cause increases diagnostic yield. Latov's studies have focused on the role of myelin associated glycoproteins (MAG) in the induction of neuropathy.Kyle, director of the Special Protein Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, brings a broad clinical and laboratory perspective and experi- ence. The timing of the textbook is just right, because there is much new information which needs to be summarized.