Rosenberg, Davanzo and Gershon’s Pharmacotherapy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders 2nd Edition

David R. Rosenberg, Pablo R. Davanzo and Samuel Gershon, editors: Pharmacotherapy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders.

Second edition

New York: Marcel Dekker; 2002 (754 pages).

Reviewed by Samuel Gershon

INFORMATION ON CONTENTS: The second edition of Pharmacotherapy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders was published by Marcel Dekker, in New York. It opens with an Introduction to the series by William A. Frosch, that is followed by two Forewords, one by David J. Kupfer, and the other by Charles B. Nemeroff, a Preface by the editors, and the list of its’ contributors.

The text is presented in two parts, the first with the title Introduction to Psychopharmacology, and the second, with the title Classes of Medication. Part One includes six chapters from which in the first a Historical Perspective on Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is given; in the second, Ethical Issues in Pediatric Psychopharmacology are addressed; and in the third, Pharmacoepidemiology of Psychotropic Medications in Youth is discussed. Chapter four deals with Child and Adolescent Psychophamacology: A Call for Pharmacoeconomics research; chapter five reviews Clinical Pharmacology of Psychoactive Drugs, and chapter six, describes Cardiac Side Effects of Psychoactive Drugs in Children and Adolescents. 

Part Two, includes fourteen chapters from which eleven, is dedicated to different classes of medications: Psychostimulants, Tricyclic Antidepressant, Selective Serotonin-Reuptke Inhibitors, Novel (Atypical) Antidepressants, Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, Antipsychotic Agents, Lithium, Anticonvulsants, Anxiolytics, Adrenergic Agents, and Atypical and Adjunctive Agents. From the remaining three chapters, one deals with Pediatric Psychopharmacology in the Consultation Liaison Setting, another with Pharmacological Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders, and the third with Combination Pharmacotherapy in children and adolescents. The volume is complemented with an Index. 

REVIEWER’S STATEMENT: The irst edition of this text, authored by David Rosenberg, John Holttum and Samuel Gershon was converted into an edited volume (Rosenberg, Davanzo and Gershon) with 17 contributors: Beth Bower, Oskar K. Bukstein, John V. Campo, Pablo A. Davanzo, Mellissa  P. DelBello, David J. Edwards, Samuel Gershon, Junius J. Gonzalez, Joseph Kitkas, Robert A. Kovatch, James M. Perel,  David R. Rosenberg, Daniel J. Safer, Jess P. Shatkin, Benedetto Vitiello, Vikram K. Yeragani, and .Julie Magno Zito. The addition of seven chapters, extended the scope of information covered in the volume to ethical issues, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, clinical pharmacology, cardiac side effects, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and combination pharmacotherapy in children and adolescents.

Samuel Gershon

April 3, 2014