Preface

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PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). Oxford University Press, 2015. All RightsReserved. Under the terms of the l icence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in OxfordMedicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Cristian Ninulescu; date: 16 July 2015

Publisher: OxfordUniversityPress PrintPublicationDate: Oct2013PrintISBN-13: 9780199642489 Publishedonline: Oct2013DOI: 10.1093/med/9780199642489.001.0001

OxfordMedicineOnline

OxfordTextbookofRheumatology(4ed.)EditedbyRichardA.Watts,PhilipG.Conaghan,ChristopherDenton,HelenFoster,JohnIsaacs,andUlfMller-Ladner

LatestupdateInNovember2014,80chapterswereupdated.NumerousupdateshavebeenmadeincludingtothechaptersonRheumatoidArthritis,theGeneticsandEnvironmentsection,theManagementsection,andmuchmore.WealsowelcometwonewauthorsSebastienViatteandCharlesRaine.

Preface

ThescienceofrheumatologyhasprogressedenormouslysincethethirdeditionoftheOxfordTextbookofRheumatologywaspublishedin2004.Therehavebeenmajordevelopmentsinallthemajorsubspecialitiesofrheumatologyandrheumatologistsareenjoyingthefruitsofthebiotechnologyrevolution,withacornucopiaofbiologicalagentsinroutineclinicalpracticeorindevelopment.

Inkeepingwithaneweditorialteamthecontentofthebookhasbeenthoroughlyrevised,whileretainingthebroadstructureofthepreviouseditionswhichwereadistinctivefeatureofthebook.Thenumberofchaptershasincreasedfrom126to173,reflectingtheincreasingbreadthofknowledge.Newchaptershavebeenwrittenreflectingthechangingfaceofrheumatology.Wehaveexpandedtheimagingsectiontoincludeseparatechaptersoneachofthemainmodalities,andchaptersontherapeuticscoverthenewbiologicagentsincludingareasthatweforeseebecomingmainstreamduringthelifeofthebook.

Preface

Page 2 of 3

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). Oxford University Press, 2015. All RightsReserved. Under the terms of the l icence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in OxfordMedicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Cristian Ninulescu; date: 16 July 2015

Textbooksofthissizeareoftenviewedinthemodernelectronicageofrapidrevisionasbeingossifiedandoutofdatebeforepublication.We,however,believe,asdoourpublishersOxfordUniversityPress,thattextbooksstillhaveavaluableplace.Muchofthecorpusofknowledgecontainedwithintextbookschangesquiteslowly;principlesandpracticeofexamination,clinicalfeaturesofdiseaseandassessment.Chaptersonpathogenesisandtreatmentbecomeoutdatedmorequicklyandweareplanningaregularcycleofupdates.Inadditiontocompletelyrevisingtext,wehaveintroducedcolourthroughoutthebook.

Electronicbookshavebecomewidespreadsincethelasteditionandinadditiontoaprinteditionweareproducinganonlineversion,whichisnotmerelytheprintversionreproducedbuthasenhancedfunctionalitywithdirectlinkstoreferences,videoimages,andlinksbetweenrelevantsections.TheabilitytousevideoenablesuseofmultisliceMRandCTtobeavailableandrealtimeultrasound.

WeoweahugedebttotheeditorsofthepreviouseditionsDavidIsenberg,PeterMaddision,PatriciaWoo,DavidGlass,andFerdinandBreedveldwhoassembledandproducedthreesplendideditions.Theyfeltthatthetimehadcome,nearlyadecadeafterthewritingofthethirdedition,thatafresheditorialteamwasneeded.

RichardA.Watts

Ipswich,UK

PhilipG.Conaghan

Leeds,UK

ChristopherDenton

London,UK

HelenFoster

NewcastleuponTyne,UK

JohnIsaacs

NewcastleuponTyne,UK

UlfMller-Ladner

BadNauheim,Germany

Preface

Page 3 of 3

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). Oxford University Press, 2015. All RightsReserved. Under the terms of the l icence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in OxfordMedicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Cristian Ninulescu; date: 16 July 2015