book reviews

national journal Microvascular Research (he is now
honorary consulting editor), has written more
than 200 peer-reviewed articles and several books.
To ensure that the text of the book is easily acces-
sible, a reference source on CD-ROM of the com-
plete, interlinked contents is also available.
One particularly nice aspect of this book is
the contributors’ tight focus on the key aspects
of their subjects (a characteristic made possible
in part by the annotated bibliographies, which
give the contributors freedom to point to broad-
er areas of consideration). For example, the chap-
ters covering the cellular signaling pathways of
relevance in the microcirculation system give a
unique perspective on disease processes and pro-
vide the link between clinical and molecular medi-
cine. The later chapters on pathology cover the
fundamental aspects of microcirculatory func-
tion and provide a mechanistic catalogue of the
role of the microcirculation in a striking variety
of human diseases. These mechanisms are re-
viewed in the text with refreshing new insight
and novel approaches — many applied in the con-
tributors’ own research — to better understand
the cellular and molecular mechanisms of blood
flow control.
Overall, Shepro and his coeditors pack an abun-
dance of facts and ideas into this comprehensive
set of minireviews that will propel our understand-
ing of the microcirculation forward and encour-
age the next round of research and practice in
the field. This book is an important contribution
worth the attention of anyone who hopes to un-
derstand the biologic systems that are fundamen-
tal to the practice of medicine.
Andrew S. Greene, Ph.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI 53226
agreene@mcw.edu
Hemostasis and Thrombosis:
Basic Principles and Clinical
Practice
Fifth edition. Edited by Robert W. Colman, Victor J. Marder,
Alexander W. Clowes, James N. George, and Samuel Z.
Goldhaber. 1827 pp., illustrated. Philadelphia, Lippincott was so-so. Von Willebrand’s disease? The cover-
Williams & Wilkins, 2006. $325. ISBN 0-7817-4996-4.
farction, stroke, or pulmonary embolism. No lon-
ger merely the domain of hematology, the field of
hemostasis and thrombosis is now an essential
component of cardiology, pulmonology, neurology,
pediatrics, vascular medicine, and surgery. Given
the medical importance of hemostasis and the ma-
jor advances in understanding its mechanisms,
diagnosis, and therapeutics, Hemostasis and Thrombo-
sis has been the gold standard among textbooks dis-
seminating these advances since its debut in 1982.
The rapid expansion of knowledge makes the
fifth edition of Hemostasis and Thrombosis a welcome
replacement for the previous edition, published in
2001. Samuel Goldhaber has succeeded the retired
Jack Hirsh as one of the editors, thus continuing
the practice of adding new editors to bring energy
and zest to new editions. This edition is an ency-
clopedic, comprehensive, and detailed presenta-
tion of the current state of the field.
The list of authors of the book’s 123 chapters
reads, for the most part, as a who’s who in the
field. The list has lengthened since the previous
edition, and it is wonderful to see junior members
of the field participating. New content has been
added, and the book has grown in length by about
300 pages. Protein Z, thrombopoietin, platelet re-
ceptors, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpu-
ra, and ADAMTS13 are all given special empha-
sis. The important interface with cardiovascular
medicine, particularly atherothrombosis, is an
outstanding addition; the sections on clinical
thromboembolic events have been expanded con-
siderably.
Inevitably, even in a comprehensive textbook,
all of the answers cannot be found. To determine
whether the contents could assist me with my
clinical practice, for several weeks I read the sec-
tions related to each patient I saw. In an excellent
section, I learned about the scope of bleeding in
Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. What if the D-dimer
level is incidentally found to be extraordinarily
high in an otherwise healthy patient? The book
had no answer. Warfarin-induced necrosis? The
book had outstanding coverage. Anti–phospho-
lipid antibody syndrome? The coverage of the
topic was good. Easy bruising? The coverage
age was excellent. Factor V Leiden? The informa-
tion on chemical analyses, laboratory diagnosis,

T hrombosis is the leading cause of and genetics was fine, but I could not find infor-
death in the Western world, with more than mation on current recommendations for manage-
half of the population dying of myocardial in- ment in the index. The information may be there,

n engl j med 355;17 www.nejm.org october 26, 2006 1839

The New England Journal of Medicine

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but I could not locate it. Overall, almost all of my
queries were addressed.
There are several opportunities for improve-
ment in the next edition. Although the book is
printed in two colors, the potential of the design
is not fully realized. Titles and headings are high-
lighted in blue, as are the tables. However, all of
the diagrams and illustrations are in black and
white. The introduction of shades of black and
blue into the complicated figures would have
greatly improved transmission of the content. In
short, color is used decoratively, not heurist ic-
ally. However, there is a four-color signature at the
beginning of the book — a structure typical of
earlier texts. I was surprised that in this computer-
based era, when textbook sales are dwindling,
that the publisher has not provided readers with
digital access to references and text searching.
Although many people still do not want to read an
entire book on a computer screen, opportunities
for searching, index linkage, and access to refer-
ences, for example, have been missed. Had they
been provided, the search for answers to my clini-
cal questions might have been more successful.
A finalized version of chapter 76 is not included
because it was “not available at press time for in-
clusion in the book.” Every multiauthored text-
book of this scope has problems with the timely
receipt of manuscripts, but there is routinely a
plan for dealing with a missing chapter. It is not
clear what subject is absent from the book, and
I will always wonder whether the answer to an
unsuccessful search was in that chapter.
These minor shortcomings notwithstanding,
this is an outstanding, fairly priced book that re-
mains the reference standard, providing a tremen-
dous amount of current information on the sub-
jects of hemostasis, thrombosis, and vascular
biology at both the basic and clinical levels.
Bruce Furie, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA 02115
Book Reviews Copyright © 2006 Massachusetts Medical Society.
corrections
Diagnostic Performance of Digital versus Film Mammography
for Breast-Cancer Screening (October 27, 2005;353:1773-83).
On page 1775, the first paragraph should have read, “To estab-
lish a reference standard, participants were classified as posi-
tive for cancer if breast cancer was pathologically verified within
455 days after the initial study mammogram. Participants were
1840 n engl j med 355;17
The New England Journal of Medicine
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Copyright © 2006 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
notices
classified as negative for cancer if not classified as positive and
if their breast-cancer status was determined to be negative by
the enrolling institution 10 months or more after study entry,
either through follow-up mammography, including subsequent
workup, or other information,” not “To establish a reference
standard, participants were classified as positive for cancer if
breast cancer was pathologically verified within 455 days after
the initial study mammogram and negative for cancer if their
study records showed negative findings on a pathology report
of a biopsy specimen, if the follow-up mammogram at 1 year
was normal, or if both criteria were met” as printed.
Condoms and Sexually-Transmitted Infections (June 22, 2006;
354:2642-3). On page 2643, the figure was incorrectly labeled
“Dysplastic Cell Showing Features of HPV Infection.” We regret
the error.
Soluble Endoglin and Other Circulating Antiangiogenic Fac-
tors in Preeclampsia (September 7, 2006;355:992-1005). On page
1003, in Figure 4B, the 95% confidence interval of the adjusted
odds ratio for term preeclampsia among women with a low
value of soluble endoglin but a high sFlt1:PIGF ratio should
have been “2.6–21.3,” not “2.6–4.3” as printed.
notices
Notices submitted for publication should contain a mailing
address and telephone number of a contact person or depart-
ment. We regret that we are unable to publish all notices
received. Notices also appear on the Journal’s Web site
(www.nejm.org/meetings). The listings can be viewed in
their entirety or searched by location, month, or key word.
BUILDING PALLIATIVE CARE PROGRAMS IN HOSPITALS:
TOOLS AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
The seminar will be held in Chicago, Nov. 2–4.
Contact Barbara Mastroddi, Center to Advance Palliative Care,
1255 Fifth Ave., Suite C-2, New York, NY 10029; or call (212) 201-
2680; or see http://www.capc.org; or e-mail barbara.mastroddi@
mssm.edu.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
The following courses will be offered in Toronto: “Digestive
Diseases for Physicians and Surgeons: Update on Inflammatory
Bowel Disease” (Nov. 3); “Urology Update 2006” (Nov. 3 and 4);
“Pathology Update 2006” (Nov. 3 and 4); “2nd International
Conference on Interpersonal Psychotherapy” (Nov 12–14); “A
Practical Day in Emergency Medicine” (Nov. 25); and “Update in
Medicine and Ophthalmology” (Dec. 8 and 9). The “Canadian
Radiosurgery Society (CaRS) Meeting” will be held in Niagara-
on-the-Lake, ON, Canada, Nov. 17 and 18.
Contact Continuing Education, Faculty of Medicine, University
of Toronto, 500 University Ave., Suite 650, Toronto, ON M5G
1V7, Canada; or call (888) 512-8173 or (416) 978-2719; or fax
(416) 946-7028; or e-mail ce.med@utoronto.ca; or see http://
www.cme.utoronto.ca.
THE JOURNAL’S WEB AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
For letters to the Editor: authors.nejm.org
For information about the status of a submitted manuscript:
authors.nejm.org
To submit a meeting notice: meetingnotices@nejm.org
The Journal’s Web pages: www.nejm.org
www.nejm.org october 26, 2006