Infectious Diseases of the Female Genital Tract, 4th edition

Infectious Diseases of the Female Genital Tract, 4th edition

August 2002, Vol. 9, No. 3 The Journal of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists Book Review Infectious Diseases of the Female Geni...

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August 2002, Vol. 9, No. 3

The Journal of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists

Book Review

Infectious Diseases of the Female Genital Tract, 4th edition by Richard L. Sweet and Ronald S. Gibbs Lippincott–Williams & Wilkins, Hagerstown. 781 pages, $110.00, 2001

The text is complete, with material on infections due to bacteria, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, viruses, protozoa, and helminthes. Of greatest importance are extensive discussions relating to pregnancy, with separate presentation of intraamniotic infections, infections as a cause of preterm labor, and infections leading to premature rupture of the membranes. The contribution of infection to infertility and recurrent miscarriage is also included, but dispersed throughout the book. Perhaps the only areas I would have liked to have had covered more extensively are surgical treatment of pelvic abscesses (both conventional and by minimally invasive techniques) and diagnosis and treatment of postoperative surgical infection complications. Drs. Sweet and Gibbs have written an outstanding text. It will provide practitioners a one-source reference for care of women with infections for years to come, and clearly deserves a place on the bookshelf of all women’s health care practitioners.

This book is a virtual encyclopedia of important information and facts. The effort to produce this edition must have been nearly overwhelming, particularly when one realizes that Drs. Sweet and Gibbs wrote the entire book themselves. I am confident that obstetricians and gynecologists, as well as other health care professionals treating infectious diseases involving the female reproductive tract, will find this volume indispensable. The book is primarily organized in three sections, which in essence serve as a matrix allowing readers to examine individual disorders from different perspectives. The sections are individual organisms, pathophysiology of individual gynecologic and obstetric infections, and the role and use of antibiotic and antiviral agents. Collectively, they comprehensively address infectious disorders and appropriate therapy. These major sections are complemented by additional contributions that focus on microbiology of the female genital tract, appropriate use of the microbiology laboratory, antibiotic prophylaxis in obstetrics and gynecology, and identification and timing of clinically indicated immunizations.

Michael P. Diamond, M.D. Detroit, MI

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