The Veterinary Journal 191 (2012) e3

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The Veterinary Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate / tv j l

Book Review

M.D. Lorenz, J.R. Coates, M. Kent, Handbook of VeterinaryNeurology, fifth ed., Elsevier, London, 2011, ISBN9781437706512,560 pp.; £64.99 (hard)

This is the fifth edition of one of the most well-known andestablished books in veterinary neurology and maintains the rightbalance between conveying the basic concepts of veterinary neu-rology and the more practical approach to the clinical case. Thebook is filled with colour images and explanatory diagrams, photosand tables which make it very user friendly. Also, several clinicalcases are added at the end of each chapter, which help translatethe basic concepts discussed into the clinical realm and contributeto the understanding of the clinical approach to individual cases.

The book is divided into two parts: one dedicated to the funda-mentals of veterinary neurology and the other to the clinical as-pects. Part 1 starts off with the very important concepts of basicneuroanatomy; these are often overlooked in handbooks, but areof essential importance when attempting to grasp the often intim-idating subject of neurology as they form the basis to the under-standing of the following chapters. This is followed by a detaileddescription of the neurological examination and subsequent local-isation of lesions within the nervous system. Still included in part 1is the diagnostic approach to the patient with neurological disease,discussing tests from routine blood analysis to electrodiagnostics,advanced imaging techniques and cerebrospinal fluid collectionand analysis.

Part 2 is dedicated to clinical problems and is divided into 11chapters discussing different clinical presentations, namely: pare-sis of one limb; pelvic limb paresis, paralysis or ataxia; tetrapare-sis, hemiparesis or ataxia; ataxia of the head and the limbs;disorders of the face, tongue, oesophagus, larynx and ear; disorders

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2011.11.020

of involuntary movement; blindness, anisocoria, and abnormal eyemovements; stupor or coma; seizures, narcolepsy, and cataplexy;pain; systemic or multifocal signs. Each chapter lists the possibledifferential diagnosis that could cause the specific signs and thendiscusses each of them in more detail. This makes the book notonly comprehensive but also practical and quick to use when pre-sented with a clinical case. This latest version is up to date with allthe current literature and offers inclusive reference lists that canguide those that would like to expand their knowledge further. Fi-nally, the book provides a useful table listing all congenital, inher-ited and breed-associated diseases that affect the muscular and thenervous systems in the form of an Appendix.

Overall, this is a well-written book that is suitable for both stu-dents that require a more basic understanding of neurology as wellas for the busy practitioner necessitating a more practical ap-proach to the subject. Its comprehensive nature and its very exten-sive reference lists also make it an asset to those with a specialinterest in the subject. As it includes all species, it should applyto all individual interests within the veterinary profession.

Rita GoncalvesUniversity of Liverpool,

Leahurst Campus,Chester High Road,Neston CH64 7TE,

UKE-mail address: r.goncalves@liv.ac.uk