Clinical Neurology

A Primer

Peter Gates, MBBS, FRACP, Associate Professor Melbourne University, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne Professor Deakin University, The Geelong Hospital, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

This is a clinical neurology book for students and non neurologists, and for those who teach them. The book covers neuroanatomy, history taking and examination and then proceeds to discuss the clinical features of common problems as well as selected, less common neurological disorders, in a way that will demystify a part of medicine that many find complex and difficult to understand. The book is accompanied by a DVD explaining concepts, demonstrating techniques of performing the neurological examination and demonstration of abnormal neurological signs.

The first chapter is devoted to neuroanatomy from a clinical viewpoint. The concept of localising problems by likening the nervous system to a map grid with vertical meridians of longitude (the ascending sensory pathways and the descending motor pathway)and horizontal parallels of latitude (cortical signs, brainstem cranial nerves, nerve roots and peripheral nerves) of the nervous system is developed. Subsequent chapters take the reader through the neurological examination and the common neurological presentations from a symptom oriented approach. Chapter 4 contains a very simple method of understanding the brainstem, the "rule of 4". Chapter 6 discusses the approach after the history and examination are completed. The final chapter is an overview of how to approach information gathering and keeping up-to-date using the complex information streams available.

Reviews of Clinical Neurology -

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone whos looking for a book to introduce them to the field of neurology, and to anyone thats needs a quick refresher on neurological presentations. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, gained plenty of new information, and have developed new ways of accessing neurological presentations.
Review by Kane Guthrie
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we may be seeing the birth of a new classic educational and training neurology textbook. I recommend it highly. Review by Neil Scolding, Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences -
practical-neurology.com

Dr Gates has somehow deconstructed what a neurologist does and laid this bare for us to see. The result is a text of enormous utility to medical students, postgraduate students and importantly teachers of those students Review by M. Leech -
Internal Medicine Journal

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Paperback, 450 Pages

Published: August 2010

Imprint: Churchill Livingstone

ISBN: 978-0-7295-3935-7

1 Clinically oriented neuroanatomy: Meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude
2 The neurological history
3 Neurological examination of the limbs
4 The cranial nerves and understanding the brainstem: The Rule of 4
5 The cerebral hemispheres and cerebellum: Assessment of higher cognitive function
6 After the history and examination, what next?
7 Episodic disturbances of neurological function
8 Seizures and epilepsy
9 Headache and facial pain
10 Cerebrovascular disease
11 Common neck, arm and upper back problems
12 Back pain and common leg problems with or without difficulty walking
13 Abnormal movements and difficulty walking due to central nervous system problems
14 Miscellaneous neurological disorders
15 Further reading, keeping up-to-date and retrieving information
Appendices
A: The Mini-Mental State Examination
B: Benign focal seizures of childhood
C: Currently recommended drugs for epilepsy
D: Treatment of migraine
E: Epidemiology and primary prevention of stroke
F: Current criteria for t-PA in patients with ischaemic stroke
G: Barwon Health dysphagia screen
H: Nerve conduction studies and electromyography
I: Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis
Glossary

Clinical Neurology

Contents