Stroke: A Clinical Approach.

Stroke: A Clinical Approach According to the authors, "the book is intended as a manual for the general practitioner, internist, or surgeon confronted with stroke patients and for the medical student and house officer in training." The authors view their work as "a 'how to' manual that describes a practical approach to the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of the stroke patient."

The book is divided into three sections: general principles; stroke syndromes; and prevention, complications, and rehabilitation. Because the book is written by neurologists for physicians, it is not surprising that the first two parts are developed more fully than is the last. The first two sections address issues that may be of interest but have little direct relevance to physical therapy practitioners. The chapter on rehabilitation in the last section is only six pages long. The authors express a belief that rehabilitation is an important, albeit underutilized, component of treatment; however, they also coin the phrase, "hyper-PT syndrome." They define this as an "exaggerated" emphasis on physical therapy directed at returning the patients to their premorbid status (eg, in limb function) rather than at returning them to their previous functional activities.

The book is well written and organized and is complemented by numerous small case examples. It is highly interesting as a source book on stroke; however, I cannot recommend it for general use. Although it may serve a "how to" role for physicians, it will have no such value for physical therapy clinicians.