By Thomas Similowski, William A. Whitelaw, Jean-Philippe Derenne, eds. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, 2002, 1072 pp; $250

COPD is currently the sixth-leading cause of death worldwide, and it has been estimated that it will climb to the third spot by 2020. Current treatment is, without doubt, unsatisfactory; in spite of the recent Global Initiative on Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases guidelines, a nihilistic approach is often adopted. The very fact that nearly 1,100 pages are required for Clinical Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease reflects on the far-from-happy situation that we are in today. Having said that, this brilliant and decidedly valuable tome systematically takes the reader from diagnosis through management, and includes a panoramic view of the approach to management throughout the globe.

Three distinguished editors have succeeded in recruiting recognized experts from all over the world to present up-to-date and well-established information that can easily be assimilated by the reader. This elegantly structured book has 10 parts, which have further been subdivided into 45 chapters. The first part, centered on diagnosis and follow-up, comprises 10 chapters that systematically acquaint the reader with the clinical approach to a patient with COPD. The diagnostic aspects include essential investigations such as pulmonary function and imaging, while the follow-up section contains information ranging from assessment and management of dyspnea to the impact of health-related quality of life studies in COPD, to disability evaluation. An entire chapter is included on treatment recommendations for the general practitioner.