Devoted to imbalances of sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, chloride, and water, Dr Collins' cleverly illustrated manual considers the electrolyte disturbances that a practitioner is likely to encounter in his hospital practice. Collins uses a brightly colored diagram, which he repeats throughout the manual with appropriate additions in black and white, to illustrate each abnormality. Facing each diagram on the opposite page, a few paragraphs of text consider the pathophysiology, treatment, and causes of the disorder.
Collins discusses both normal and abnormal findings and usually recommends a treatment, often referring to a few simple formulas for estimating excesses and deficits. He provides tables that summarize the clinical features of fluid and electrolyte disorders and give the constituents of various reparative solutions. Lists of electrolyte imbalances accompanied by the most likely causes of each also appear in tables designed to help the reader make a differential diagnosis. Finally, Collins shows how he uses