Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies by Neal Flomenbaum, Robert Hoffman, Lewis Goldfrank, Robert S. Hoffman, Neal E. Flomenbaum

The following material is available at goldfrankstoxicology.com:

• Study Guide



• Study Questions wiht Answers



• Case Studies with Answers



• Image Library

Journal of Clinical Toxicology

A winner... a big help to those in the front lines of the battle between chemicals and people... An essential ingredient in the collection of those who are intimately involved in clinical toxicology.

Jon Olsen

This is the sixth edition of a comprehensive textbook of toxicologic emergencies. The previous edition was published in 1994. The purpose is to provide better patient care and stimulate interest in medical toxicology. These worthy objectives are well accomplished. This book is written for students of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, residents in emergency medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, preventive health, and family practice, and fellows in medical toxicology, as well as attending physicians. The authors and contributors are primarily medical toxicologists and PharmDs. This edition includes 12 new chapters including a section on antidotes-in-depth and expanded discussions of serotonin reuptake inhibitors, paralytics, and EKGs in toxicology. It includes basic science, clinical manifestations, and treatment of toxicologic and numerous environmental emergencies. Four pages of color plates are useful, but should be expanded to include color plates of toxic plants/mushrooms since the small black-and-white illustrations of these toxins are not very useful to the practitioner. This is the comprehensive textbook of medical toxicology that should be on the shelf of every practitioner who deals with toxicologic emergencies. The alternative reference is the computer version of Poisindex, which is more useful in specific ingestions, but is not as comprehensive in toxicologic principles as this text. This is a needed update of previous editions.

Kathy J. Rinnert

This comprehensive text provides a thorough and in-depth review of the diagnosis and management of the poisoned/intoxicated patient. It provides a case-based, organ systems approach to a multitude of toxic ingestions and exposures. This fifth edition replaces the previous edition published in 1990. This book provides sound practical advice for management of toxicologic emergencies. Additionally, it serves as a resource and reference in dealing with less common ingestions and exposures. The objectives are noteworthy, given the hundreds of intoxications and exposures managed each day. The authors do an excellent job in providing a comprehensive and practical text. Dr. Goldfrank is to be commended! Recognizing that knowledge of toxicology is an important part of many medical specialties, this book serves emergency physicians, internists, pediatricians, and family practitioners. Dr. Goldfrank is a well-recognized expert in the field of toxicology and continues to distinguish himself with this newest edition, some 16 years after the first. Dr. Goldfrank has assembled numerous internationally known experts in the fields of pharmacology, pediatrics, and toxicology to provide the reader with truly expert advice. Although illustrations are sparse, tables are generously used to organize and amplify information from the text. Extensive bibliographies end each chapter and serve as a current reference list for more detailed review of individual topics. The appearance is clean and the writing style readable and concise. Unique assets of this book include a section that features a workbook of case studies from regional poison centers and toxicology consult service patients. Additionally,approximately 950 multiple choice questions, cross-referenced according to chapter, act as an excellent boards review tool. This text is a must for any clinician who performs primary care. Those physicians who manage acute intoxications will appreciate its succinct and clear style. The newest edition provides updated and revised information in each chapter.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:B. Zane Horowitz, MD (Oregon Health and Science University)
Description:This is the eighth edition of the well-regarded Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies, which has evolved from its early years as a series of interesting toxicologic cases to the definitive reference for the field of toxicology. This update comes four years after the seventh edition and it retains much that has made this an authoritative textbook, adds 30 new chapters, and a "new to this edition" online link to color photographs.
Purpose:The preface states that the authors "continue to proudly offer readers an approach to medical toxicology based on case studies." These objectives stem from the inception of the original text in which each chapter is opened with an illustrated case. In some prior editions, this was followed by a didactic discourse in the form of questions and answers to questions posed, in a roundsmanship style. This approach has been abandoned in the last few editions and the more common form of subheadings based on clinical presentation, physiology, and treatment is followed so that users can quickly find the information they need.
Audience:The ultimate audience for this book includes medical toxicologists and emergency physicians who treat toxicologic emergencies, as the title implies. However, it is a useful book for other fields where toxicology issues arise and expertise is needed. This should be a valued addition to the libraries of pediatricians, internists, and occupational physicians. The authors, all members of the New York City poison center, use an impressive list of nationally recognizedexperts for chapter authors.
Features:The book is well organized. After three chapters on historical perspectives, the first section on the general approach to overdose management discusses principles in management, imaging, lab testing, treatment, pharmacokinetics, and enhanced elimination. The next section is one often thumbed though extensively when investigating a difficult case, as it contains a discussion on how toxins affect each body organ, chapter by chapter, along with lists of differential diagnoses of arcane presenting symptoms — everything from retinal injury to blue urine. Excellent chapters on neurotransmitters have been updated. Chapters on special populations, covered in other sections in the last edition, are organized at the end of this section (postmortem toxicology, geriatrics, pediatric) . The remainder of the book is organized by groups of substances, presented first with a case report, and followed with a comprehensive review of the substance's physiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment approach. Individual antidotes have their own chapters right after the substances for which they are used, another unique aspect of this book, and the revised index better reflects the location of these compared with the last edition. When one has written the "bible" of toxicology textbooks and revised it now for eight editions, one wonders what new revelations it can contain. Is there a DaVinci code for Goldfrank's? Well in this new edition, there is. Every book has a tear-out one page reference which includes a 20-digit alphanumeric code so that the user can log onto a protected website to get access to an array of color photos on plants, venomous animals, and more. But according to the book plate, access expires in around four years, presumably just in time for the ninth edition to be published. Nonetheless, this new online novelty is not likely to be used as much as the hefty volume itself.
Assessment:Once the lone "Old Testament" in medical toxicology, Goldfrank's now competes with at least four other comprehensive texts in what is becoming a crowded field. Ellenhorn's, now revised as Dart's Medical Toxicology, 3rd edition (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004) , Brent's Critical Care Toxicology: Diagnosis and Management of the Critically Poisoned Patient (Elsevier, 2005) , Haddad's Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, 3rd edition (Elsevier, 1998) , and Ford's Clinical Toxicology (Elsevier, 2002) all cover some common ground. Each has its own strengths in a few unique chapters or by an approach to decision making. However, the breadth of Goldfrank's new edition makes it worth purchasing for anyone who frequently, or even occasionally, treats toxicologic cases, even for those who own earlier editions. The editors and authors are to be commended for their compulsive revision, with attention to detail, every four years of this authoritative book.

Booknews

New edition of a text in which 117 contributions offer a case study approach to medical toxology. Topics include the biochemical and molecular basis, the pathophysiologic (organ system) basis, and clinical issues such prescription medication, psychopharmacologic medications, alcohol and drugs of abuse, food poisoning, botanicals, heavy metals, household toxins, pesticides, occupational and environmental toxins, toxic envenomations, special populations, and preventive, psychosocial, nursing, epidemiologic, research, and legal perspectives. Contains some b&w and color illustrations. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody