Abstract

This is the first volume of a new series of titles, each of which provides readers with a concise and carefully-structured pictorial reference to the clinical manifestations of disease and the means by which the diagnosis may be confirmed. In this volume the author begins by reviewing the basics of blood pressure measurement, clinical examination and assessment of risk factors, before moving on to review in turn the mechanisms that underlie the several different forms of hypertension, and the investigations which are appropriate to making a correct diagnosis in each case. The numerous clinical photographs are supported by a concise, highly-structured text that highlights characteristic presenting signs, tests by which diagnoses may be confirmed and differentials excluded. Flowcharts, checklists and algorithms are used throughout to summarise key facts, and present the reader with a rapid reference to the diagnostic process. Tables summarising key data are also included, and all these features combine to provide a uniquely accessible reference to this most challenging disease.