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Now in its eleventh edition, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine includes three new authors on the writing team, bringing a fresh perspective to the content. Each page has been updated to reflect the latest changes in practice and best management, and the chapters on haematology, oncology, surgery, and radiology have been extensively reworked. Figures and illustrations have been carefully revised and updated in response to reader feedback, key references have been honed to the most up-to-date and relevant, and the text has undergone a thorough review process to ensure the level and coverage are pitched correctly. Unique among medical texts, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is a complete and concise guide to the core areas of medicine that also encourages thinking about the world from the patient's perspective, offering a holistic, patient-centred approach. Loved and trusted by millions for over three decades, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine continues to be a truly indispensable companion for the practice of modern medicine.

The only textbook for PA students by PA educators that covers everything you need to know for your clinical medicine courses. This groundbreaking clinical textbook designed specifically for physician assistant students was developed by PA educators to ensure that you have the exact information you need to succeed in your challenging clinical medicine courses. Designed with the unique PA curriculum in mind, Clinical Medicine for Physician Assistants addresses current ARC-PA standards, providing you with a single go-to resource for all the topics you'll need to master. Organized by body system, this text provides the in-depth, head-to-toe foundation you'll need as you prepare to move into clinical practice. Not only does it cover hundreds of clinical conditions, but it also provides important insights on how to manage the most common chief complaints, system by system, with useful algorithms to guide you through patient visits. Chapters include a digestible and methodical review of conditions, including pathophysiology, etiology, history, signs and symptoms, physical exam, and diagnosis details for each. Also included are treatment options, patient education, and special considerations for various patient populations. Additionally, you'll find key points at the end of each chapter, along with knowledge checks to help you synthesize and apply what you learned. Key Features: The first clinical medicine textbook developed for PAs by PAs specifically for the PA curriculum Designed to reflect current ARC-PA competencies and standards for clinical medicine courses Covers all the clinical topics on the current NCCPA PANCE blueprint and more Includes chapters on surgery, abuse, care of the LGBTQ+ patient population, and preventive medicine More than 300 four-color illustrations, dozens of algorithms, and 600 useful tables and boxes to facilitate learning Key points and knowledge checks to reinforce learning Useful guidance for navigating common chief complaints Robust instructor resources, including an instructor manual, PowerPoint lectures, case studies, and a test bank with more than 1,000 questions

This groundbreaking book merges ancient wisdom and modern medicine, equipping practicing acupuncturists and medical professionals with validated scientific research while showcasing its historical efficacy. From low back pain to infertility, delve into ten prevalent conditions, unveiling the wide-ranging applications of acupuncture in daily clinical practice.Authored by experts who have lectured worldwide, this invaluable resource combines classical treatment.

A thorough, yet concise, update on all areas of medicine. Covers systemic medical conditions most likely to affect ophthalmic patients, such as infectious, metabolic, neurologic and cardiovascular diseases; cancer; and rheumatic and endocrine disorders.

Just as Pocket Medicine helped you get through residency,Pocket Medicine High-Yield Board Review, Second Edition, will help you pass your boards! This fully updated review book follows the organization of Dr. Marc S. Sabatine's bestselling Pocket Medicine manual and covers the essential information you need to excel on exams. Each chapter presents clinical vignettes and related multiple-choice questions and answers—all written by trusted Pocket Medicine contributors and meticulously edited by Dr. Sabatine.

“I like the unique style … It is simple, engaging and easy to read, whatever your learning preferences (I particularly like the colour coding!). It also covers topics comprehensively, making it not only a great aide-memoire but also a very useful everyday book on the ward.” From the Foreword by Professor Farah Bhatti OBE, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon All the core knowledge you need at medical school in one place! General Medicine and Surgery: Medical Student Revision Guide contains the core information you need on: Cardiology; Endocrinology; Gastroenterology; Hepato-pancreato-biliary; Haematology; Immunology & Allergy; Neurology; Renal; Respiratory; General surgical principles; The acute abdomen; Gastrointestinal surgery; The breast; Vascular surgery; Urology; Critical illness; Emergency presentations; Rheumatology; Trauma & orthopaedics. Throughout medical school, and the years thereafter, a huge volume of knowledge must be acquired and retained, to achieve the standards expected of a safe and successful doctor. This is a mammoth task. General Medicine and Surgery: Medical Student Revision Guide is designed to make accessing and remembering core knowledge as easy as possible: each topic is presented in a colourful, revision-ready note format, with extensive use of diagrams, tables and flowcharts key points are highlighted and core concepts summarised, making the information easier to digest, assimilate and memorise a consistent structure means you always have access to clinical presentation, investigations and management, risk factors and complications. Every chapter has been peer-reviewed by a specialist in the field, to ensure it is accurate and reflects the most up-to-date guidelines. In addition, these specialists have also used their own personal experience of studying for medical exams to ensure that the books focus on the most important conditions, concepts and vocabulary needed to pass finals. General Medicine and Surgery: Medical Student Revision Guide is the perfect companion for your medicine degree, exam revision, medical finals and your early career as a foundation doctor.

Référence unique dans la francophonie, « petit bijou clinique », Démarche clinique initie au raisonnement physiopathologique fondé sur des preuves, aux connaissances à jour des maladies fréquentes et aux aspects communicationnels et relationnels de l'entrevue médicale. Résolument orientée vers un savoir pratique et scientifique, la troisième édition de cet ouvrage met à l'avant-plan l'anamnèse et l'examen physique sous forme d'explications finement détaillées et abondamment illustrées. De nombreuses capsules d'enseignement sur l'échographie au chevet, des hyperliens vers des vidéos illustrant les techniques d'examen et des sections d'enrichissement bonifient également cette nouvelle édition. Former, approfondir, superviser, évaluer : tels sont les fondements de Démarche clinique, indispensable tout au long de la formation et de la pratique autant en médecine qu'en soins infirmiers avancés.

This textbook describes several diseases and clinical conditions, from physiopathological mechanisms to main clinical pictures, highlighting the importance of laboratory medicine, with the aim to provide the necessary tools for guiding correct laboratory findings interpretation. Indeed, it is now widely recognized that laboratory medicine has a pivotal role in clinical medicine, significantly influencing clinical decisions. Thus, it is crucial to understand and use laboratory data appropriately. This book has the great advantage of describing each topic exhaustively in order to facilitate its understanding. Specifically, it describes both diseases with a high incidence in the population, such as Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiovascular Diseases, Dyslipidemias, and Autoimmune Diseases, as well as rare diseases, such as Hereditary Metabolic Diseases. In addition, unusual topics are treated, such as Clinical Biochemistry of the Mind, as well as hot topics, such as Biological Drugs, Biobanks, Health Technology Assessment, and Omics Sciences. Finally, the book includes a chapter on the new health emergency, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Two appendices are provided at the end of the book: a table summarizing the reference range and decisional cut-off for the main laboratory parameters and instructions on performing a venous blood sample. The book will be an invaluable tool for medical and biomedical students, as well as for practitioners.

This textbook assembles the wealth of clinical experiences across multiple medical specialties and offers clinical pearls that will result in better patient care and are highly relevant to daily practice. This book has been compiled by many renowned clinicians, medical educators, and researchers who are experts in their respective disciplines across Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The chapters provide multiple cases in vignette format, illustrating the clinical pearls, and finish with a discussion and practical tips. This format will allow the reader to easily understand how the clinical pearls can be applied in clinical practice. Evidence-based medicine and clinical guidelines help us choose the best management and treatment options for our patients. However, many questions in medicine have not been researched or are not readily amenable to research. In fact, there is more to the art and mastery of practicing clinical medicine than the evidence-based approach. Information gained over years of reflective clinical practice and cumulative wisdom adds value to evidence-based clinical medicine. With experience and clinical gestalt playing an equal, if not a more prominent role than what evidence can offer in a physician's approach to solving clinical problems, this book offers unique perspectives on the practice of medicine.Beyond Evidence-Based Medicine: Clinical Pearls from Experienced Physicians will be valuable for later-year medical students, medical educators, doctors in training, and consultant physicians alike. Aiming to improve the day-to-day medical practices of professionals, the Editors have invited experienced physicians to share their expertise culminating in a unique book with broad applicability and appeal.

This book provides a practically orientated resource that details the use a range of imaging techniques across major specialties plus those that are less well represented in standard textbooks (e.g. cardiothoracic surgery, palliative care, geriatric medicine, skin conditions from diverse ethnic groups). Emphasis is placed on enabling the reader to interpret images and clinical data, while avoiding mistakes and pitfalls in their day-to-day practice. Detailed question and answer sections along with insightful videos reinforce key messages (e.g. visualizing heart murmurs). Grading of questions aids navigation, with more difficult questions to benefit the high-flying students/junior doctors preparing for postgraduate exams/physician associates and advanced nurse practitioners working in a specialist area.Practical Guide to Visualizing Medicine: A Self-Assessment Manual concisely covers how to use imaging techniques in medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology. It emphasizes the value of being able to accurately visualize signs and symptoms to make accurate diagnoses and provide patient-centered care. The added insight given from experienced medical educators on how to select an appropriate medical specialty makes this work critical for all trainee and early-career medical practitioners and allied healthcare professionals.

Medical practice in the modern age requires familiarity with clinical guidelines and standards, which are often published separately in long and discursive documents. This new addition to the Oxford Medical Publications summarises the key clinical practice guidelines which all final year medical students and Foundation Year 1 and 2 doctors should know when managing common conditions. Logically organised by medical specialty, the reader can quickly familiarise themselves with the key principles of diagnosis and management at the appropriate level for beginning a new rotation on the wards. Each guideline summary is tailored to the education level expected of doctors in their first two years of training, with clear instructions for when a more senior colleague should be called upon to help. Written by a team of junior doctors under the supervision of senior clinicians, this is the first resource to distil a range of guidelines from different locations (such as NICE, SIGN, and more) into an easily digestible format. Practical and user-friendly, with tables, diagrams, flowcharts, and algorithms to convey the key points quickly and easily, Oxford Clinical Guidelines is the new invaluable resource for every final year medical student and doctor at the beginning of their training.

This book provides a practically applicable guide to the applications of pharmogenomics across medicine. Background information is provided on the mechanisms associated with membrane transporters, drug-metabolizing enzymes and their importance in pharmagenomics. Detailed guidance is subsequently presented on how to apply these techniques in disciplines including cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology, transplantation surgery, infectious diseases, anesthesia and analgesia, neurology, psychiatry, primary care, and public health. Clear easy-to-follow instructions are given on how to use big data technologies and public health databases in day-to-day clinical practice. Pharmacogenomics in Clinical Practice concisely covers how pharmacogenomic technologies and techniques can be applied in daily medical practice. It is therefore an ideal up-to-date resource for any medical practitioner, trainee or researcher across all medical disciplines whowant to better understand how to use these techniques.

Integrating the reflections of a practicing clinical pharmacist who specializes in hematology and oncology, this book illuminates some of the most fundamental yet fascinating aspects of a broad range of solid and blood cancers, their novel drug therapies, and strategies to advance oncology pharmacy practice. By emphasizing key concepts rather than a comprehensive review, it provides a clear introduction to oncology principles, making it easier for clinicians and students alike to understand pathophysiology, pharmacology and supportive care issues.

AI IN CLINICAL MEDICINE An essential overview of the application of artificial intelligence in clinical medicine AI in Clinical Medicine: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Professionals is the definitive reference book for the emerging and exciting use of AI throughout clinical medicine. AI in Clinical Medicine: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Professionals is divided into four sections. Section 1 provides readers with the basic vocabulary that they require, a framework for AI, and highlights the importance of robust AI training for physicians. Section 2 reviews foundational ideas and concepts, including the history of AI. Section 3 explores how AI is applied to specific disciplines. Section 4 describes emerging trends, and applications of AI in medicine in the future. Readers will find that this book: Describes where AI is currently being used to change practice, and provides successful cases of AI approaches in specific medical domains. Dives into the actual implementation of AI in the healthcare setting, and addresses reimbursement, workforce, and many other practical issues. Addresses some of the unique challenges associated with AI in clinical medicine including ethical issues, as well as regulatory and privacy concerns. Includes bulleted lists of learning objectives, key insights, clinical vignettes, brief examples of where AI is successfully deployed, and examples of potential problematic uses of AI and possible risks. From radiology, to pathology, dermatology, endoscopy, robotics, virtual reality, and more, AI in Clinical Medicine: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Professionals explores all recent state-of-the-art developments in the field. It is an essential resource for a general medical audience across all disciplines, from students to clinicians, academics to policy makers.

Narrative Medicine: A Rhetorical Rx rests on the principles that storytelling is central to medical encounters between caregivers and patients and that narrative competence enhances medical competence. Thus, the book's goal is to develop the narrative competence of its reader. Grounded in the rhetorical theory of narrative that Phelan has been constructing over the course of his career, this volume utilizes a three-step method: Offering a jargon-free explication of core concepts of narrative such as character, progression, perspective, time, and space. Demonstrating how to use those concepts to interpret a diverse group of medical narratives, including two graphic memoirs. Pointing to the relevance of those demonstrations for caregiver-patient interactions. Narrative Medicine: A Rhetorical Rx is the ideal volume for undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare, students in medical and allied health professional schools, and graduate students in the health humanities and social sciences.

The healthcare arena has seen a shift in recent years, with more healthcare provisions being delivered or managed via electronic means. Healthcare providers can now provide patients with diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, or a prescription without ever sharing the same physical space. With so much more patient data now stored and accessed electronically, the security of this information is ever more critical to the delivery of effective and efficient healthcare services. As blockchains are resistant to modification of their data, blockchain technology therefore provides traceable and reliable security to e-Healthcare systems and services.

The book is needed for several reasons. Bariatric surgery is one of the most clinically effective and cost effective services in any field of medicine, and is growing in popularity, and the non-specialist family practitioner, allied health professional and pharmacist need to know exactly what it involves. Bariatric surgery is in everyone's interest – whether medic or patient, as it offers improvement in diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnoea, fatty liver and many cancers, whilst reducing benefits, housing costs and the general burden on the economy. There is a lot of flawed thinking on surgery in primary care, with only a minority of family practitioner specialists making the majority of referrals, whilst many are denying their patients access because of their own misconceived ideas. A ‘back to basics'book will help tackle the negative views surrounding the topic, and improve the volume and quality of referrals. Very often patients turning up to obesity centres have been given poor advice, and inappropriate treatment, and arrive with little or no idea what to expect. Many medics prioritise other conditions first, overlooking the underlying cause, i.e. obesity. Basic education on obesity and co-morbidities is fast becoming essential.

Medicine itself is sick. We hardly understand any disease and therefore need to chronically treat symptoms but not the causes. Consequently, drugs and other therapies help only very few patients; yet we are pumping more and more money into our healthcare system without any added value.Thus, the internationally renowned physician researcher, Harald Schmidt, predicts the end of medicine as we know it. On a positive note, digitization will radically change healthcare and lead to one of the greatest socioeconomic revolutions of mankind. He is one of the pioneers of'systems medicine', a complete redefinition of what we actually call a'disease', how we organize medicine and how we use Big Data to heal rather than treat, to prevent rather than cure. In this book the author first proves the deep crisis of medicine, but describes how medicine will become more precise, more uniform, safer and, surprisingly, also more affordable. Making a diagnosis will be taken over by artificial intelligence. Current, mainly organ-based medical specialists, disciplines and hospital departments will disappear. Physicians will become patient coaches working in interdisciplinary teams with pharmacists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, etc. and relieved of their workload. Illnesses, including cancer, will be prevented or cured in a precise manner. We will become 100 years and older. Health care spending will shift from chronic treatment of diseases to prevention and health maintenance, thereby dramatically reducing overall costs. Health will become a common good. But Harald Schmidt also warns that those who are not open to digitization will not benefit from these advances and will be left behind. Anyone who wants to benefit from the revolution of medicine must have a digital twin. Is this futurism? No, each of us can have his or her personal genome sequenced, microbiome analyzed, keep an electronic health record. The future has begun.Schmidt convincingly explains the limitations in the current practice of medicine and the need for big data and a systems approach. Prof. Ferid Murad MD, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1998, USA Network Medicine, a new discipline that offers a network-based understanding of the cell and disease, is unavoidable if we wish to translate the advances in genomics into cures. Professor Harald Schmidt, a prominent expert in this space, offers the first coherent treatment of the topic, explaining the potential of a network-based perspective of human disease. Prof. Albert-László Barabási, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USAVisionary, provocative, and full of insights. Professor Schmidt gives a unique and authoritative perspective to the past, present and future of medical science and clinical practice. And all presented in such an inimitable style. Prof. Robert F.W. Moulds, MBBS PhD FRACP, Former Dean Royal Melbourne Hospital Clinical School, Australia

Returning for a fourth edition, Oxford Assess and Progress: Situational Judgement Test is the definitive guide for students preparing to sit the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) for entry into the UK Foundation Programme. Featuring over 300 practical questions mapped to the Foundation Programme curriculum and latest GMC guidance, this new edition has been fully updated to maximise your SJT score. All scenarios are based on real experiences informed by practising doctors and medical students who have sat the SJT to ensure that the questions closely mirror the content of the real exam. Two practice tests allow candidates to prepare for exam day and practice their timings - one of the biggest challenges in the exam. Written by junior doctors and overseen by experts in medical assessment, this guide demystifies the SJT, allowing you to achieve the best possible score and take control of the first stage of your medical career.

Offering a unified resource for both clinicians and pharmacists, A Medication Guide to Internal Medicine Tests and Procedures provides concise, focused answers to common medication questions before, during, and after internal medicine tests and procedures. Co-authored by experienced physicians and clinical pharmacists, this unique, time-saving reference brings together essential information for healthcare providers and students in a convenient, highly templated, pocket-sized book. - Addresses the many medication questions surrounding 54 of the most commonly used tests and procedures. - Ensures proper peri-procedural management by addressing what medications need to be administered or held ahead of a specific test. - Provides foundational guidance on the diagnostic process, anticoagulation and glycemic management in the periprocedural period, and anesthesia, followed by highly templated chapters arranged alphabetically by procedure name. - Includes brief descriptions of tests, how they are performed, and common findings. - Helps readers avoid interference with tests and unnecessary adverse effects, optimizing patient outcomes. - Enhanced eBook version included with purchase. Your enhanced eBook allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices.

Jones & Bartlett Learning's Pocket Guide for Medical Assisting provides the essential information you need to make the transition from the classroom to the clinic as smooth and as stress-free as possible. The streamlined, quick-reference format allows you to easily find key information to carry out clinical, administrative, and laboratory duties. It keeps all the essential information at hand and organized for easy review and is the ideal procedure manual every medical assistant needs for the practice setting.

Designed for busy clinicians struggling to fit the critical issue of nutrition into their routine patient encounters, Nutrition in Clinical Practice translates the robust evidence base underlying nutrition in health and disease into actionable, evidence-based clinical guidance on a comprehensive array of nutrition topics. Authoritative, thoroughly referenced, and fully updated, the revised 4th edition covers the full scope of nutrition applications in clinical practice, spanning health promotion, risk factor modification, prevention, chronic disease management, and weight control – with a special emphasis on providing concisely summarized action steps within the clinical workflow. Edited by Dr. David L. Katz (a world-renowned expert in nutrition, preventive medicine, and lifestyle medicine) along with Drs. Kofi D. Essel, Rachel S.C. Friedman, Shivam Joshi, Joshua Levitt, and Ming-Chin Yeh, Nutrition in Clinical Practice is a must-have resource for practicing clinicians who want to provide well-informed, compassionate, and effective nutritional counseling to patients.

Like a mentor you may turn to in times of crisis, this book provides the wisdom earned from countless mentors and patients. You may be standing on the precipice of medical training or well into your career, trying to recapture the joy of medicine. A love of people and a love of science barely capture the essence of a life in medicine; there is so much more to being a physician than the ability to diagnose and treat diseases.While nothing can fully prepare you for the fear and anxiety that comes with inexperience, Mastering the Art of Patient Care eases some of that uncertainty with a system for surviving and thriving in medical school and beyond. Whatever your stage, the goal of this book is to share successes and failures to help you be a physician who takes outstanding care of patients, colleagues, and trainees and derives great joy from saving lives.

A quarta edição de EEG na Prática Clínica mais uma vez contribui imensamente para a produção editorial brasileira. Esta edição incorpora as últimas novidades e atualizações da eletroencefalografia, além da nova classificação e nomenclatura das epilepsias. O texto é objetivo e ricamente ilustrado. Ao longo das mais de 400 páginas, representa, principalmente, a experiência e amadurecimento da Escola de Neurofisiologia Clínica da Unicamp.

This book embraces a comprehensive range of research across several disciplines, providing insights and fresh perspectives on clinical topics, emphasizing the integrative medical approach. The book also addresses an increasing role of artificial intelligence in the development of clinical methodologies, research, and patient-oriented care. The authors share expertise and experience in rehabilitation medicine whose healing-effects particularly depend on the interaction between the therapist and patient. Chapters present novel approaches in manual rehabilitative therapy of common painful and disabling neuromuscular ailments, exemplified but not limited to low back pain and migraine. The myofascial trigger point release therapy includes specific manipulations to muscles and connective tissue which reduce pain. Other chapters address the issues of providing long-range medical care to older adults burdened with chronic diseases, notably hypoxia-related pathologies and theirsequalae, pointing to the advantages of care provided by a single primary care physician. Changing paradigm of care is essential in chronic atherosclerosis-based diseases like cardiovascular disorders or diabetes. Chapters provide results of international cohort studies on predictive factors for the long-range progress of such ailments based on anthropometric and lifestyle indicators. The book aims to meet the increasing interest and importance to patients of integrative health therapies. Medical rehabilitation and lifestyle changes increasingly gain scientific support in difficult-to-treat chronic conditions and should be integrated in a controlled manner into conventional medicine. The book is addressed to physiotherapists, medical scientists and clinicians, and allied healthcare professionals.

Closing Evidence Gaps in Clinical Prevention, a new consensus study report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, evaluates evidence gaps in clinical prevention recommendations described by the United States Preventive Services Task Force and other clinical practice guideline developers and presents a taxonomy of these evidence gaps for future use. This report aims to improve the coordination of efforts to describe and communicate priority evidence gaps among funders and researchers. It also proposes new opportunities for collaboration among researchers, funders, and guideline developers to accelerate research that could close evidence gaps. The authoring committee has also developed an interactive graphic that can be used as a workflow diagram for implementing the taxonomy. This workflow walks users through reviewing evidence, characterizing evidence gaps using relevant taxonomies, and developing a research agenda. Click here to view and engage with the interactive graphic.

Practical and highly organized, The5-Minute Clinical Consult 2023 provides rapid access to the diagnosis, treatment, medications, follow-up, and associated conditions for more than 540 disease and condition topics to help you make accurate decisions at the point of care. Organized alphabetically by diagnosis, it presents brief, bulleted points in a templated format and contains more than 100 diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms. Edited by Frank J. Domino, Robert A. Baldor, Kathleen A. Barry, Jeremy Golding, and Mark B. Stephens, this up-to-date, bestselling reference delivers maximum clinical confidence as efficiently as possible, allowing you to focus your valuable time on providing high-quality care to your patients.

A thorough, yet concise, update on all areas of medicine. Covers systemic medical conditions most likely to affect ophthalmic patients, such as infectious, metabolic, neurologic and cardiovascular diseases; cancer; and rheumatic and endocrine disorders.

This volume includes eight chapters describing recent advancements in medicine and biology. Chapter One describes molecular communication among legume and rhizobia in the early stages of symbiosis. Chapter Two gives a comprehensive review of the physiochemical, pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties of diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Chapter Three dissects the novel aspects of the glucocorticoid receptor mechanism of action covering the latest findings that reveal the roles of heat-shock protein 90-binding immunophilins managing the glucocorticoid action and how these proteins influence biological response. Chapter Four explains a technique for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer in women with diminished oocyte reserve that pays strict attention to not down-regulating key follicle stimulating hormone receptors. Chapter Five describes the use of four-dimensional computed tomography for the detection of enlarged parathyroids in the management of primary hyperparathyroidism. Chapter Six reveals the changes in the blood concentration of cell-free DNA and a number of biochemical and hemocytological parameters in the early stages of radiation cystitis development after local irradiation of the female rat pelvic region. Chapter Seven includes an evaluation of the safety and efficacy of pediatric appendectomy as compared to antibiotic-only treatment. Finally, Chapter Eight discusses a novel four-dimensional computed tomography technique that consists of sixteen different contrast phases instead of three or four phases, enabling detection of structures with a very short enhancement pattern.