Pharmaceutical Calculations. Eleventh Edition

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Spring 2002 by Kirkpatrick, Mary Ann

HOWARD C. ANSEL AND MITCHELL J. STOCKLOSA. Pharmaceutical Calculations. Eleventh Edition. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams& Wilkins, 2001. xii 396 pp., 32 figs., 30 tbls. $47.00.

This is the most recent edition of a book that has been used as a pharmacy calculations textbook since 1946. There have been no major changes in the overall organization since the tenth edition in 1996. The book contains 21 chapters, three with new content and three with content previously provided as appendices. The three new chapters, Some Calculations Involving Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, Body Mass Index and the Nutrition Label and Some Calculations Associated with Plant Extractives reflect the increased patient interest and demand for compounded preparations, especially veterinary and botanical preparations.

Several chapters have been expanded including a new section on clinical considerations in the chapter on electrolyte solutions. The chapter, Calculation of Doses, has two new sections, special considerations for cancer chemotherapy and heparin dosing. The authors have also added numerous references for formulation problems previously published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding. It should be noted that these formulations are included as examples of compounding calculations, and not as proven safe and/or efficacious preparations.

Much of the information provided in the appendix in the tenth edition is now incorporated into chapters. Six appendices have been moved into a new chapter titled Miscellaneous Pharmaceutical Calculations, and Some Pharmacoeconomic Calculations is now a stand-alone chapter. The chapter Calculation of Active Drug Moiety, formally an appendix titled Chemical Problems, has been expanded and included as a chapter in this latest edition.

New tables and figures have been added that should be especially helpful for visual learners. Among these are figures depicting the aliquot method of weighing and layering of immiscible liquids. New practice problems have also been added for all new content.

Pharmaceutical Calculations continues to be a good textbook and reference source for students. The new chapters on contemporary compounding calculations make this a valuable resource for practitioners too.

Mary Ann F Kirkpatrick Shenandoah University