Acute Exacerbations of Respiratory Diseases

is is an interesting monograph pulling together into one volume disparate pulmonary diseases that have in common only that they are primarily pulmonary and may present with acute exacerbations. Th e chapters cover the primary diseases chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, pulmonary fi brosis, bronchiectasis, idiopathic pulmonary fi brosis, sarcoidosis, hypersensi-tivity pneumonitis, lung transplantation and drug-induced respiratory disease. Th e chapters tend to be concise, easy to read and with nice case presentations to underscore specifi c principles of management. Th ere is no uniform structure to all the chapters, but they all tend to include pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment. Given that these diff erent processes have profoundly diff erent time courses in which the acute phase may be from a few hours to several weeks, the overall fl ow of the volume is solid. References are current and focused. Figures, though sparse, are good and to the point. Th is volume will be of interest primarily to resident and fellow trainees, practicing internists and pulmonologists. Th e scope is too broad and the size too small to be of practical use to most transplant physicians, critical care physicians and immunologists. A few of the chapters deserve special interest. Th e fi rst chapter on COPD is very well documented for evidence-based recommendations. However, it only briefl y mentions acute respiratory failure and then mentions primarily face mask non-invasive ventilation and not mechanical ventilation. Since this is the most common acute exacerbation of lung disease to require ventilatory support and since mechanical ventilation of such patients is problematic, some discussion on mechanical venti la-tion would have been useful. For example, the next chapter on asthma addresses specifi c mechanical ventila-tory problems with that select patient group. Th e chapter on idiopathic pulmonary fi brosis is the specifi c interest of Dr Sahn and the quality of the discussion refl ects this seasoned level of expertise. Th e fi nal lecture on drug-induced lung disease is very complete in terms of listing potential drugs causing various pathological processes. Th is chapter is potentially the most useful for its separation of drugs according to specifi c pathological processes. On a minor note, Table 6-1, relating to sarcoidosis, includes a drug dosing error that is probably a typographical error. Th e table lists prednisone 20 to 40 mg/dl when the authors probably meant 20 to 40 mg/d. Th is is not a …