Editors: Lead Editor: Jay S. Duker, MD. Associate Editors:  Nadia K. Waheed, MD, MPH, and Darin R. Goldman, MD
Publisher: Elsevier Saunders – 177 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani

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This is a portable reference guide to abnormalities, disorders and diseases relating to the retina. Optical coherence tomography known in short as OCT is a method used to evaluate the extent of retinal disease. Uveitis is one of them and those relating to the optic nerve are some of the others.

This book can help you learn imaging methods used in evaluation of disorders of the retina. Information in this book is contained in 26 sections organized around nine Parts entitled:

  • Introduction to Optical Coherence Tomography
  • Optic Nerve Disorders
  • Macular Disorders
  • Retinal Vascular Disorders
  • Inherited Retinal Degenerations
  • Uveitis and Inflammatory Diseases
  • Trauma
  • Tumors
  • Peripheral Retinal Abnormalities

This guide has about 360 illustrations spread throughout the book that enables you to actually see the various abnormalities, disorders, and diseases of the retina and other parts of the eye, and not just read descriptions. Labeled arrows within the images are provided for you to look at the problem that is being discussed in the text. This makes for easier learning, understanding and retention.

When you see the photographs in this book and retain them in your mind, and when you come across similar images as you examine patients, you will be able to cross-refer the two, to determine treatment and your course of action for the patient.

For example, in section 15.2 entitled Central Retinal Artery Occlusion (sudden, profound, but painless monocular vision loss that occurs in the seventh decade affecting men more than women) figure 15.2.2 shows two abnormalities being pointed at by arrows: intense hyper-reflectivity of inner retinal layers on the top side of the retina, and outer plexiform layer on the bottom side.

In this eye condition, “the classic finding is retinal whitening with a cherry-red spot in the acute setting (figure 15.2.1). This corresponds to edema of the inner retina, which is most present in the macula due to the prominent nerve fiber and ganglian cell layer,”  write the authors. They point out that this occurs in 1 among 10,000 people in their 70s, more likely men than women.

This is a highly useful book with specific, bullet-pointed information and corresponding images enabling you to quickly understand the problem, its causes, and possible treatments. The author team – Drs. Duker, Waheed, and Goldman – have done an exceptional job of collecting, organizing and presenting the relevant knowledge and provide that you here as a compact, portable, handy, valuable tool.

Jay S. Duker, MD is Director of New England Eye Center, and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology of Tufts Medical Center at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.
Nadia K. Waheed, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at New England Eye Center at Tufts University Medical Center at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.
Darin R. Goldman, MD is Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Retina Group of Florida in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Contributors:
Daniela Ferrara, MD, PhD is Researcher at New England Eye Center at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.   
Sana Nadeem, MBBs, FCPS is Senior Registrar in the Ophthalmology Department of Fauji Foundation Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Alexandra S.C. Reis, MD is affiliated with the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Sao Paolo, in Sao Paolo, SP, Brazil.