Diagnostic Pathology: Nonneoplastic Dermatopathology, 2nd Edition

By Brian J Hall, MD, Cary Chisholm, MD, Travis Vandergriff, MD and Chad Jessup, MD

ISBN: 978-0-323-37713-3

Pub Date: 8/26/2016

Reviewed by: Kabeer K Shah, D.O. (Mayo Clinic)

Description

Part of the Amirsys Diagnostic Pathology series, this book covers common and uncommon non-neoplastic lesions and correlated dermatopathology using a concise, high-yield, clinicopathological approach. The previous edition was published in 2012. This update is similarly succinct and accessible, includes access to an ebook version, and improves upon its predecessor with high quality images.

Purpose

The clinicopathological approach is critical to the evaluation of non-neoplastic dermatopathology, as often there is discordance in the clinical and histological impression. The book covers a wide array of common and uncommon reactive, inflammatory, and genodermatoses seen in clinical practice, and includes terminology, etiology, clinical issues, histological features, differential diagnoses, pearls, and impactful references for each entity.

Audience

The intended audience is trainees in dermatology and pathology as well as their staff counterparts. Trainees will find this book useful as the primary method of studying and review for board preparation. Practicing physicians will use this book to stimulate additional differential diagnoses or as an educational tool for sharing relevant information with fellow dermatology or pathology practitioners. The book is useful for those who prefer rapid review of digestible high-yield facts with well-annotated graphics.

Features

The book evaluates 275 clinically relevant entities encountered in skin biopsies over 760 pages. As with the first edition, the book uses a bulleted list format. This edition builds upon the familiar framework by adding nearly 500 new high quality photomicrographs and clinical images with clinical annotation.

The book (and ebook) is divided into 24 sections, spanning topics such as common reaction patterns (interface, spongiotic, psoriasiform dermatitidies, etc.), inflammatory conditions within various compartments of skin (vasculitis, panniculitis, etc.), genodermatoses, and infectious lesions. Each section is subsequently divided into lesion-based chapters which are each allocated 2-5 pages. Each chapter begins with a half page of key facts with diagnostically relevant bullet points. The remainder of the page is shared with multiple diagnostic images (clinical and histological) of the entity with subsequent pages expounding upon the key facts, with additional images for the entity.

Each image is well annotated with arrows and descriptions of the relevant features. Each chapter remains focused on the core purpose of the book, to correlate the histological and clinical findings while sharing a relevant discussion of the differential diagnoses.

Assessment

This book is the single most concise non-neoplastic dermatopathology reference for trainees and practicing pathologists and dermatologists. Non-neoplastic dermatopathology encompasses a challenging array of lesions, one which requires knowledge of clinical dermatology, pathology, and clinicopathological correlation. This easy-to-read book offers vibrant, high-quality color photos to simplify the learning and diagnostic process for these challenging lesions. The book highlights key high-yield facts needed to accurately correlate diagnoses.

Since the previous edition, updates include over 90 new chapters (entities), 500 new images, and new sections on spirochetal diseases and pigmentation disorders. The first few sections cover entities seen within commonly described reaction patterns (lichenoid/vacuolar interface dermatitis) and continue with evaluation of other dermatoses. The book evaluates commonly encountered lesions as well as rare entities seen only in specialized practice such as alopecias, drug reactions, and genodermatoses. In addition, significant attention is paid to the clinicopathological correlation with focused differential diagnosis discussion and beautiful clinical and histological images. For instance, in the connective tissue disorders section, the clinical features are described for each variant of lupus erythematosus (LE) as well as the clinical criteria for systemic LE, immunofluorescence findings, and associated laboratory serologies.

As a result, this book can serve as a single reference for the majority of non-neoplastic lesions in dermatopathology. Those who enjoyed the previous edition will be rewarded with this revised second edition and clean format. Those who are new to the book will be delighted by the high-yield style and powerful images. The strength of this series and this book is derived from the editors’ vision to assign each entity to specific authors, allowing them to spend significant time and energy developing each chapter. The authors are all experts in their respective areas and share their experience.

The digital and text formats provide an astonishingly concise resource with stunning images and developed differential diagnoses. This would make an excellent resource for those preparing for dermatology and dermatopathology boards, as well as faculty in both fields.

Doody’s Review Service Weighted Numerical Score: 99 – 5 Stars!