Allergy and Clinical Immunology provides an excellent review of the literature and research that has been accumulating, particularly in the last ten years, in this rapidly changing field.
The first section, on immunology, is an unfolding of the discoveries that have led to the present understanding of cellular systems and immunochemical responses in immunology. Normal immunoprotective mechanisms are described, and the pathological variations in the responses are categorized.
Some of the groundwork elucidating hereditary patterns in allergy is presented, and the accumulating evidence for genetic factors in immunity is documented. An outline and succinct description of the multiple immune deficiency disorders are helpful in conjunction with a chapter on the clinical and laboratory investigation of the immunodeficiencies. The immunologic aspects of specific organ systems are then discussed, with chapters by various authors devoted to such topics as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, and immunologic aspects of the renal, hematologic,