- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
From The Critics
Reviewer: Francis H. Straus II, MD, MS(University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)Description: This atlas of pediatric surgical pathology is divided into 13 chapters following a systemic pathology pattern, i.e., respiratory, endocrine, muscle. There is about equal space given to rectangular color illustrations (taken from Kodachromes) and minimal descriptive text covering the main pathology conditions of each organ system. These are organized in the usual congenital, inflammatory, neoplastic categories.
Purpose: The authors wished to provide for pediatric pathology the concise, well-illustrated atlas-like bench book that has already been available in general pathology and other specialty areas. They emphasize molecular technology because it is more widely used in pediatric pathology. They exclude bone and brain pathology and pathology primarily seen at necropsy.
Audience: The proposed audience are surgical pathologists practicing their specialty on neonatal, childhood, or adolescent specimens. It can be a useful text for surgical pathology residents. The authors are from Scotland and not widely known in the states, but are well credentialed.
Features: The photomicrographs are quite good, generally of lower magnification with good contrast. Occasional pictures have dark or off-white backgrounds. Gross photographs are rare and some line drawings are included. An atlas cannot have too many illustrations. At the end of each chapter are relatively recent references up to 1994. The table of contents and the index will aid in using this book in search of specific disease entities. In the text, disease names are highlighted by bold type. A brief appendix suggests how to handle lymph node biopsies, tumor and liver needle core biopsies, and fresh muscle biopsies.
Assessment: Even with the authors intent to exclude nonpediatric conditions, there is a lot of overlap with adult general pathology. There could be more emphasis on congenital variations from normal, but as a source of good illustrations and brief descriptions of pediatric disease conditions, this book could be useful. Again, this is a bench book, not a library book.