Neuromuscular disorders. Anthony A Amato, James A Russell. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008 (viii + 775 pp). ISBN 978 0 07 141612 2.

Neuromuscular disorders is a new text that admirably covers the area of peripheral neurology, namely disorders affecting the peripheral nervous system, neuromuscular junction and muscle.

The authors, Anthony Amato and James Russell, are eminent neurologists and neurophysiologists from Massachussetts, at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Lahey Clinic, respectively.

With only two authors, the style is consistent and there is no unnecessary duplication, creating a text both comprehensive and relatively concise. At 775 pages, it is still a weighty book but it very adequately covers the relevant topics in a depth similar to that achieved by the world-recognised textbooks on the subject, which separately cover peripheral nerve and muscle diseases over two volumes.

The book is beautifully illustrated, and the use of colour particularly enhances the neuropathology plates and clinical photos, adding clarity to many of the pictorial diagrams. The text also contains many very helpful tables. The index might possibly be incomplete. For instance, meralgia paraesthetica does get reasonable coverage in the text in the chapter on radiculopathy, plexopathy and mononeuropathies, but it is not indexed as such. The entry for lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh takes the reader to an entry 20 pages earlier, which covers the anatomy but not the clinical features of the syndrome. Similarly, rippling muscle disease is mentioned in the text but not indexed.

These are, of course, minor quibbles — this is an excellent reference book which, at less than $300, is good value for money. In an area that has seen a rapid growth of knowledge in the past decade, Neuromuscular disorders is certainly, at present, very up to date.