VSPN Review by Vicki Hayden, CVT 
(Click on stars for an explanation) |
This book is Out of Print. |
I first encountered this volume as a veterinary technician entering the human clinical laboratory field, where it is considered the bible of urinalysis, sometimes referred to affectionately as "the P-sister’s book." For most medical technologists it is the standard benchside reference, for valid reasons. In the author’s words,
"A Handbook of Routine Urinalysis presents a simple clinical explanation of the various properties and constituents of urine that are tested in the routine urinalysis."
A useful table of contents, index, and a list of figures facilitates speedy access to information. The text is written in a technical yet readable style, beginning with a short but comprehensive description of urine formation. It segues smoothly into the physical analysis followed by the chemical analysis of urine. The great majority of the book, approximately sixty percent, is dedicated to the microscopic analysis of sediment, including an extensive pictorial atlas of elements (including artifacts) which the technician may encounter. These photomicrographs are taken of unstained sediment by standard brightfield illumination as would be found in most in-house laboratories when viewed by the clinical technician. A very good explanation of the proper adjustment of the microscope for this examination precedes the detailed discussion of microscopic elements and allows technicians to have their microscopes properly adjusted for the best scanning results. The short final chapter covers nonroutine screening procedures which may be attempted in the clinical setting.
Minor drawbacks are realized as this book, a revision of the author’s master’s thesis at San Francisco State University, is oriented toward human urinalysis as opposed to animals. In the majority of instances, all of the information is equally applicable to other mammalian species, although normals, abnormals, and clinical significances must be correlated with veterinary-specific references. And since the book was released to publication in 1982, its extensive bibliography is also aged, although still considered a good resource. These are the only two detractions keeping me from rating this text a solid five-star volume. I found the book an invaluable resource throughout my twenty years in clinical and reference laboratories. My own copy is broken and dog-eared from years of service and that is probably the most sterling recommendation. I most definitely recommend the inclusion of this book in any hospital lab.
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA (1983).
284 pages, soft cover.
ISBN-10: 0397521111
ISBN-13: 978-0-397-5211-1