Desk Reference for Hematology PDF

Preface

The intention of the publishers, editor, and authors of this book is to provide a major source of easily obtained, reliable information on hematology in one book, with specific topics arranged in alphabetical order. As this is mainly based on well-established knowledge, it has not been closely referenced. The references provided here have been confined to guidelines, reviews, and recently published articles on topics that are either controversial or for which opinion has yet to be consolidated. In addition, there is a bibliography of recommended further reading.

The information has been made concise by the use of extensive cross-referencing within the book, as indicated by words printed in boldface. Words thus highlighted within an article indicate that further information on the subject is available in a separate article identified by the emboldened words.

Common abbreviations are listed in a separate table at the front of the book and are widely identified throughout the text. Acronyms for combination therapies are listed under cytotoxic agents. Manuscript references are superscript numbers; in-text references are numbers in brackets [1].

The nomenclature regarding hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue is that used in the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues, a summary of which is included as an Appendix. Color photographs of cells or tissues have not been included, as these are well presented in many easily obtainable publications. Likewise, details of laboratory technical procedures are not included.

It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the help that I have received from the authors and from colleagues, in particular Dr. R. A. Shinton, senior lecturer in medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., for reading the manuscript and Mrs. Anne Caine, administrator, Division of Clinical Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K., for help in data processing.