Differential Diagnosis in Neurology

 The  purpose of an exercise in differential diagnosis is to establish  crosslinks between medical facts stored in different sections of our  memory. This book, Differential Diagnosis in Neurology, is the unified  perspective of an eminent physician with decades of clinical experience  and teaching; one of the most skilled clinical neurologists of modern  times and a seasoned researcher who was the primary investigator for  many clinical trials, and who published numerous clinical and basic  research papers. The real world aspects of the book are based on morning  reports with neurology residents and students conducted over 40 years.  The differential diagnosis generated by subspecialty division chiefs  supplemented those proposed in morning reports. The book is conceived as  a guide that will give the clinician a concise snapshot or skeleton  with a general background of the disease at hand. Other disease aspects  included in this book are molecular genetics, physiology, and  biochemistry that will elucidate mechanisms and assist in discovering  new entities. Each chapter includes an extensive list of suggestions for  further reading. It is the art of crosslinking between medical facts  that distinguishes Dr. Schwartzman from other teachers of neurology and  that makes this book uniquely valuable. The essence of a differential  diagnosis is splitting rather than lumping : it requires bringing  knowledge to the table and then adding experience. -R.J. Schwartzman