"Clinical Chemistry encompasses the study of the fundamental princi- ples of chemistry as applied to an understanding of the functioning of the human organism in health and disease." 1 From its very definition, clinical chemistry is an applied science. Its scope includes the following: I. Studies designed to elucidate the chemical mechanisms whereby the human normally functions. 2. The application of this information to an understanding of the disease process in the human. 3. The development of methodology and instrumentation in order to facilitate data gathering so as to apply the above...

This book, the third volume in the series, continues to explore the application of chemistry to our understanding of the functioning of the human in health and disease. It is the objective of the authors to continue to present, in this and subsequent volumes, the biochemical aspects of clinical chemistry, and to indicate how this knowledge applies to the diagnosis of disease and the treatment of the patient. For this purpose, the literature is reviewed carefully and the findings of the different study groups are integrated, to present an overall view of the present status of the various...