This volume was designed as a text for medical students, house officers, and even clinicians. It deals with the most common problems in nephrology, providing new insight into how to improve clinical skills. A comprehensive overview of renal physiology and electrolyte disorders lays the groundwork for a clear presentation of the pathophysiological principles that underlie these disorders and a step-by-step presentation of the mechanisms behind the signs and symptoms of kidney failure. The origins of this book can be traced to the teaching of a Renal Pathophysiology course at the Washington University School of Medicine, beginning in the mid-1960s. When changes in the medical school curriculum took place in the early 1970s, an effort was made to synthesize the minimum core curriculum for sophomore medical students, and the distillation of "essential material" to be covered in the area of renal pathophysiology led to the development of the first edition of a renal syllabus. This syllabus has been used in our department since 1974, and, following some of the recommendations and critiques of students and faculty, it has been entirely reworked many times to improve its effectiveness and value. This book is a direct extension of that syllabus, integrated with contri butions from faculty members in our Renal Division, and expanded to include a section on therapy in most chapters. It is our hope that this format will serve the needs of not only sophomore and senior medical students, but also house officers, nephrology fellows, and clinicians."

Volume 2 of Contnnporary Xephrology updates the major developments which ha\'e occurred during the past 2 years in 15 major areas of both basic and clinical nephrology. In addition, this volume has a section, Chapter 8, \uitten by Drs. Pederson, Llach, and Papper, from the Med- ical School at the Universitv of Oklahoma, which reviews the recent developments on nonilwasive diagnostic techniques in nephrology. The other chapters are presented in such a way as to emphasize the major advances that have occurred in the different areas in the last 2 years. In Chapter 1, Dr. Schafer analyzes in detail the new information available regarding the action of aldosterone both in anuran membranes and in the mammalian kidney. Drs. Knox and Romero, in Chapter 2, update the information accrued du ring the last 2 years in the area of renal hemodynamics and sodium chloride excretion. In the area of renal me- tabolism (Chapter 3), Schoolwerth, Little, and Idell-Wenger review in detail the metabolism of lipids in the kidney and its potential relation to renal function. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first compre- hensive review of this subject in any textbook of nephrology. Dr. Dunn provides an authoritative review of the major advances in the rapidly expanding field of prostaglandins with particular emphasis on renal prostaglandins (Chapter 4). Drs. Batlle and Kurtzman update new con- cepts of acid-base phvsiology and pathophysiology, and Dr.

This volume is the first of a biannual series entitled Contemporary Nephrology. The series intends to provide the reader with a broad, authoritative review of the important developments that have occurred during the previous two years in the major areas of both basic and clinical nephrology. We have been fortunate to enlist a distinguished group of scientists, teachers, and clinicians to serve as members of the Editorial Board of this series. We are grateful to them for the outstand- ing contributions they have made to this first volume of Contemporary Nephrology. This volume has fifteen chapters. The first four chapters deal with more basic aspects of nephrology: Membrane Transport (Schafer); Renal Physiology (Knox and Spielman); Renal Metabolism (School- werth); and Renal Prostaglandins (Dunn). Chapters 5-10 are more pathophysiologically oriented, and each contains an "appropriate mix" of basic and clinical information. This group of chapters includes Acid-Base Physiology and Pathophysiology (Arruda and Kurtzman); Mineral Metabolism in Health and Disease (Agus, Goldfarb, and Was- serstein); Hypertension and the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone Axis (Williams and Hollenberg); Immunologically Mediated Renal Disease (Glassock); Acute Renal Failure and Toxic Nephropathy (Anderson and Gross); and the Kidney in Systemic Disease (Martinez-Maldonado). The last five chapters, which are more clinically oriented, include Uremia (Friedman and Lundin); Nutrition in Renal Disease (Mitch); Dialysis (Maher); Renal Transplantation (Strom); and, finally, Drugs and the Kidney (Bennett).

Volume 4 of Contemporary Nephrology summarizes major advances in 16 different areas of nephrology during the years 1985 and 1986. Major changes in the composition of the Editorial Board and authorship of the different chapters have occurred in this volume. Six distinguished contributors have retired from the Editorial Board. They include Dr. Zalman A. Agus, Philadelphia; Dr. Robert Anderson, Denver; Dr. Eli Friedman, Brooklyn; Dr. Richard Glassock, Torrance, California; Dr. James Schafer, Birmingham, Alabama; and Dr. Gordon Williams, Bos ton. We are grateful to them for their outstanding contributions to the of this series and for their advice and suggestions as first three volumes members of the Editorial Board. They certainly deserve substantial credit for the success of this series. Seven outstanding academicians have joined the Board. They in clude Dr. Vito M. Campese, Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California, who contributed the chapter on "Recent Advances in the Role of the Renal Nervous System and Renin in Hypertension"; Dr. William G. Couser, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Nephrology at the University of Washington in Seattle ("Immunologic Aspects of Renal Disease"); Dr. Garabed Eknoyan, Professor of Medicine and Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine ("The Uremic Syndrome"); Dr. H. David Humes, Associate Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Nephrology Section at the Uni versity of Michigan Medical School, Veterans Administration Medical Center ("Acute Renal Failure and Toxic Nephropathy"); Dr."

Volume 5 of Contemporary Nephrology summarizes major advances in 15 different areas of nephrology. As in previous volumes the different chapters constitute up- of the discipline contributed by individuals dates in both basic and clinical aspects with in-depth expertise in their respective areas. We are grateful to the authors for their outstanding contributions to this fifth volume. Drs. Reuss and Cotton review in Chapter 1 new advances in our understanding of water transport in epithelial tissues responsive to antidiuretic hormone. In Chap- ters 2 and 3 Dr. Knox and Dr. Schoolwerth and their associates summarize respec- tively new information in the areas of renal hemodynamics and electrolyte excre- tion, and renal metabolism. Chapter 4, written by Drs. Laski and Kurtzman, updates recent developments in the regulation of acid-base balance in health and disease. Chapter 5, contributed by Drs. Sutton and Cameron, provides the reader with a detailed account of progress in the area of mineral metabolism. In Chapter 6, Dr. Campese examines the contribution of sodium, calcium, and neurogenic factors in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. The immunological aspects of renal disease are clearly discussed by Dr. Couser in Chapter 7. New developments in this field are emphasized and should provide the reader with a clear understanding of the direction in which this field is moving. Drs. Humes and Messana (Chapter 8) discuss selected areas in which new developments have occurred in our understand- ing of acute renal failure and toxic nephropathy.