This is a book intended mainly for nonotolaryngologists and is authored by 13 alumni of the University of Michigan's prestigious graduate training program in otolaryngology.
Despite the book's title, differential diagnosis constitutes only a portion of its subject matter. Much space is also devoted to physiology, pathology, pathophysiology, audiometric testing, drug ototoxicity, clinical classifications and descriptions of disease states, and treatment, providing a breadth of scope that is welcome and needed. Unfortunately, however, both the organization of material and the writing are of uneven quality and vary considerably from chapter to chapter.
The best feature of the book is a well-organized, clearly written, 18-page chapter on vertigo by George Gates. After a brief introduction in which the reader is made familiar—first, with the general nature of vertigo and, next, with some principles of labyrinthine physiology—Gates proceeds through a systematic, logical, and detailed discussion of differential diagnosis and of the