This is a concise account of ontogenetic processes and their abnormalities in the human. It has an attractive format and concerns itself with an area of great significance to all physicians, regardless of specialty. Each of us carries some direct responsibilities for the unborn, whether involved in the treatment of pregnant women for medical or surgical conditions (where heredity, drugs, radiation, or infections are considerations), or seated on the abortion board, infections committee, or therapeutic agents board of our hospital.
The present volume serves as a helpful guide when faced with such situations, and it will remind each of us of the ancient dictum nulli non nocere as we pursue the daily practice of medicine. This book offers little here-and-now information relevant to diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis of specific birth defects. Nevertheless, there are data of pragmatic importance to physicians searching for guidance on those occasions when the conceptus