This book addresses itself to diagnostic surgical pathology rather than to the basic mechanisms of disease or other laboratory disciplines. The stated purposes of the book are to assist the surgeon in the successful utilization of pathology as a resource for patient management and to improve communication among surgeons and pathologists. These are laudable aims, particularly at a time when pathology is sometimes regarded, erroneously, as a separate activity, somewhat esoteric and detached from direct patient care. Perhaps this is why, with health care re-engineering, some in authority think that pathology services can be supplied from a distance. This book emphasizes the proper place of pathology, at the centre of clinical decision making.
Organized into 21 chapters, with 40 contributors including the two editors, this book reads like a Who’s Who of North American authorities in surgery and pathology. For most chapters, a surgeon and a pathologist are joint authors.
In their introductory chapter the editors set the tone in discussing surgical problem cases whose solutions are aided by pathology. This is followed by two chapters on special techniques, including fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Next are chapters on the surgical pathology of the various organ systems, including eye, skin, breast and musculoskeletal system. In addition there are chapters on special areas, such as obstetric and gynecologic, transplantation and pediatric pathology.
The chapters are not exhaustive (or exhausting) treatises on detailed pathology but highlight the pragmatic aspects of diagnosis and the interaction between surgeon and pathologist, including the uses and abuses of the frozen section. A particularly valuable feature of each chapter is the description of pitfalls for the surgeon and the pathologist, indicating how they may be avoided.
Throughout the text there are black-and-white illustrations, mainly of histopathologic features. These will not make experts of the reader but adequately amplify the text. The numerous tables are useful and informative. The language is lucid and the book easy to read.
Does this book achieve its purposes? I believe it does.
Are there any failings of the book? Not really. There are minor annoyances, such as the liberal use of capitalized abbreviations in some chapters. I have never been convinced that the space saved by the use of abbreviations compensates for the annoyance of having to search through the text for their definitions. If authors feel compelled to use abbreviations, they should document them at the beginning of the chapter. However, this is a minor criticism of a splendid effort.
Who should read this book? Most certainly all trainees in surgery and in anatomic pathology. In addition, practising surgeons and pathologists would greatly benefit from the information this book contains and from its pragmatic common sense. All departmental libraries in surgery and pathology should have a copy.