Genetic Disorders of the Endocrine Glands.

The authors state that this work is an attempt to catalogue the clinical, genetic, and metabolic features of the known genetic disorders of the endocrine glands. If their effort had been kept within these limitations, it would be difficult to fault. Unfortunately, they were unable to resist writing a mini-book of endocrinology; in failing this most difficult of tasks, they have detracted from an otherwise excellent work. Worst of all, there are one- or two-sentence therapeutic summaries that are likely to set any endocrinologist's teeth on edge. Aside from matters of emphasis where a reviewer might disagree with the authors (as for example with their rather euphoric praise of human growth hormone therapy), there are some surprising errors and omissions. The role of triiodothyronine as the tive thyroid hormone goes unmentioned. Statements about steroid transformations on page 226 are incorrect, and the steroid biosynthetic scheme outlined on page 218 is