Abstract
Veterinary Neuropathology: Essentials of Theory and Practice is a much-needed neuropathology text that fills a void in the current literature left when Veterinary Neuropathology, the 1995 text by Summers, Cummings, and de Lahunta, went out of print. In the preface, the authors state that the book evolved from notes for a course taught at the University of Bern in Switzerland over the past century. This course has grown to include not only veterinary pathologists but also neurologists and radiologists, and this is reflected in the book, in which frequent magnetic resonance images (MRIs) accompany gross and histologic images. Indeed, a companion website maintained by the Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Bern, showcases MRIs from neurological cases that subsequently were autopsied. This website presents 46 cases, including history, clinical findings, clinicopathologic results, MRIs (with the radiologist’s report), gross and histologic findings, and finally diagnosis. For pathologists, there is an option to go straight to the histology and gross pathology, although the diagnosis is not initially available, and so this is more useful as a diagnostic exercise than as a reference. There is an image archive on the website that can be searched by keyword.
The book is organized into 8 chapters. An introductory chapter describes the tenets of general neuropathology, including principles of neuroanatomy, neuropathological techniques, and basic tissue reaction patterns. For the pathology resident, there is a very good description of necropsy technique for removal of the brain and spinal cord and sampling for histological examination. At the end of the first chapter is a section on basic MRI physics and principles of interpretation, which likely provides more detail than any pathologist cares to know but is valuable for radiologists, neurologists (and especially neurology residents), and potentially private practitioners. Subsequent chapters are divided by disease process: vascular disorders, inflammatory disorders, trauma, congenital malformations, metabolic-toxic diseases, neoplasia, and degenerative diseases. In each of these chapters, there is an initial discussion of the pathophysiology of the disease process followed by common conditions in the various domestic species.
Gross and histologic images are of high quality, and the text, which often includes tables of diseases according to major lesion patterns and flowcharts for differential diagnoses for conditions such as hemorrhage or malacia, is easy to follow and to use as a reference. Especially well organized is the chapter on neoplasia, which provides an excellent description of the various tumors by tissue of origin and also includes a chart on immunohistochemical markers. The text is not meant to be exhaustive, and the book is a compact 200 pages. A list of recommended articles in the current veterinary literature is included at the end of every chapter as additional reading. Magnetic resonance images, with rare exceptions, are of adequate or high quality and are most helpful when paired with gross images.
In summary, this is an excellent, well-priced textbook that will be invaluable to practitioners and particularly residents in pathology and neurology training.