Manual of Molecular and Clinical Laboratory Immunology (eBook)

Description

This eighth edition of a manual for laboratory immunology comes 10 years after the 2006 edition. It is available in a print version (5.8 pounds, 1,245 pages) and an electronic version (EPUB or PDF).

Purpose

The purpose is to provide a single, authoritative reference source for laboratory immunology. This is a most worthy objective, well met by previous editions and, true to its reputation of excellence, this edition meets it as well. The electronic versions are welcome enhancements, permitting easy portability and access and accessibility options (e.g., font size, contrast, etc.).

Audience

It is intended for those who work in the clinical immunology laboratory - from clinical laboratory scientists in training or practice, to residents or fellows in clinical immunology or laboratory medicine/clinical pathology, to attendings in practice in either discipline, and especially laboratory directors. This book would also be of interest to clinicians in the many internal medicine subspecialties treating patients with diseases with immunological pathogenesis, to better understand and therefore more appropriately use testing for diagnosis, treatment, and management.

Features

It has been 10 years since the seventh edition, which also incorporated "molecular" into the title for the first time. The revolution in the past decade in molecular-based testing methods has exploded, so this edition is much needed and welcomed. The first seven sections are devoted to general methodologies, the next nine to diseases, and the last section to laboratory management. The molecular aspects have been deftly interwoven - whether proteomic techniques, the role of the microbiome in disease, HLA typing with molecular methods, immunoglobulin gene rearrangement, or transplantation immunology, etc. There are a few omissions. Many of the disease-specific chapters contain experimental protocols, but surprisingly many lacked discussions of quality controls. Some laboratory protocols are casually referred to as "laboratory developed tests" (LDTs). LDTs have been a most controversial issue in the past few years, yet this book devotes only a single paragraph in the laboratory management chapter on the proposed regulatory requirements. While the references cited in this paragraph would provide more-than-you-could-ever-want-to-know detail about Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considerations for LDT regulation, the controversy and therefore immediate risks to accreditation and licensure are not obvious to the naive reader. An enhancement for the next edition would be cautionary alerts to readers concerning implementation of LDTs, and inclusion of quality control testing instructions for every experimental protocol.

Assessment

This is THE authoritative reference for molecular and clinical laboratory immunology. If you perform this testing or want an expert update in the field, you will want this book.

Weighted Numerical Score: 91 - 4 Stars!
-Valerie L. Ng, PhD, MD, (Alameda County Medical Center/Highland Hospital)