this is a book i would very much like to get my hands on!
Book reviews
Drug-Induced Neurological Disorders. Second Edition
Jain KK. Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, Seattle, WA, 2001.
ISBN 0-88937-219-5. Price around £56 UK, $79 US
This book is an encyclopedia of drug-induced neurological
disorders. The author has made an effort to include as
many reported conditions, rare and frequent (some 5000
citations). As the book is well researched the amount of
data is very impressive. This is a valid approach to the
problem, i.e. listing as many reported adverse drug reactions.
If you read about one case, you may recognize the
second. However, in doing so the author does not add
comments of his own about the relevance of each reported
side effect. There is an overview in the first chapter but not
all single reports are really drug related. As an example, I
would refrain from including ‘oral contraceptives’ as a separate
entity in the drug-induced peripheral neuropathy chapter.
There is only one case recorded which is probably
incidental. Because of the widespread use of these agents
a single case with neuropathy may cause an unjustified fear.
The author does, however, use an asterisk in various tables
to indicate well-documented side effects. The book has 25
chapters. The first two are more general on the epidemiology
(Chapter 1) and pathomechanisms (Chapter 2). Following
are 23 chapters, arranged according to the affected
neurological system. I have a slight reservation about the
justification for a separate chapter about drug-induced Guillain–
Barre´ syndrome. This could have easily been a section
in the drug-induced peripheral neuropathy chapter. Similarly,
the chapter on eosinophilic myalgia could have been
included in the drug-induced myopathies chapter. The latter
contains a section about neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a
disorder that is also presented as a separate chapter.
The three chapters that are especially relevant to the readership
of Neuromuscular Disorders are:
1. Drug-induced peripheral neuropathies: this is a comprehensive
chapter dealing with rare and common forms of
this toxic side effect.
2. Drug-induced neuromuscular disorders: lists all the
important drugs. I would, however, like a comment
about the fact that infection may have been the major
cause in some of these cases and not the antibiotics
used to treat it.
3. Drug-induced myopathies: includes also a section on
rhabdomyolysis associated with drugs. The critical
illness myopathy should be discussed in more detail,
including mentioning the loss of heavy chain myosin.
All in all I find this book to be a well-presented collate of
drug-induced neurological conditions. It should be part of
every department of neurology library because of the
frequency of drug-related neurological conditions. It is
suitable as a quick reference for the trainee and the experienced
neurologist.
Zohar Argov*
Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical School,
91120 Jerusalem,
Israel
Drug Induced Neurological Disorders: Book Review
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