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One of Dr. Jack Lange's goals late in life was to add a pathophysiology text to the Lange series of unique basic and clinical books that have had such a great effect on health science education all over the world. This book is the result, and until he died in 1999, Dr. Lange was one of its editors. The goal of this book is outlined in the introductory chapter (Chapter 1)—to introduce students to clinical medicine by reviewing the physiologic basis of the symptoms and signs of various common diseases.
The book has proved useful as a text for introduction to clinical medicine courses in medical schools, and it has been popular in nursing schools and allied health programs. It should be valuable to students early in their medical school years by highlighting the clinical relevance of their basic science courses. It will also be useful to students engaged in their internal medicine and surgery clerkships and to house officers as an up-to-date summary of relevant physiology and a source of key references. Practitioners (both internists and specialists who provide generalist care) will find it useful as a refresher text designed to update their knowledge of the mechanisms underlying diseases. Nurses and other allied health practitioners will find that its concise format and broad scope facilitate their understanding of basic disease entries.
Pathophysiology of Disease has already been translated into Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese, while Greek and Turkish translations are under way. It is also available along with other Lange books on the Internet, at http://www.Accessmedicine.com, an online version of medical books developed by McGraw-Hill.
In preparation for this fifth edition, the editors and authors reviewed the entire book. There have been many revisions aimed at improving clarity, eliminating minor errors, and updating information. References have also been updated, with emphasis on valuable reviews. “Checkpoints,†collections of review questions, continue to appear throughout the chapters. Each chapter ends with a collection of clinical cases. These give students an opportunity to test their understanding of the pathophysiology of each clinical entity discussed and to apply their knowledge to individual clinical situations. Detailed analyses of the cases appear in Chapter 25.
With the publication of this fifth edition, the editors want to extend special thanks to the contributors and to the students and colleagues who offered helpful comments and criticisms. We are also indebted to Mary McCoy for an excellent editing job.
Stephen J. McPhee MD
William F. Ganong MD
