Abstract
Fundamentals of Veterinary Clinical Pathology is a new and comprehensive addition to the family of veterinary laboratory medicine textbooks. The text was developed from a set of veterinary lecture notes used by the authors in basic and clinical science courses.
The text is written in an expanded outline format and contains 18 chapters with in-depth coverage of hematology, clinical chemistry, hemostasis, hematopoiesis, and endocrine function. A nice component of this text is a chapter targeted to introductory concepts such as “what is clinical pathology?”, types of assays, evaluation of laboratory methods, choosing a laboratory, generation of reference intervals, and basic statistical principles. Chapters start with a broad overview of general concepts and then move into more detail in an iterative fashion. The reference list for each chapter is significant and contains original articles, review articles, and textbook material, allowing the reader to readily research points of interest. The extensive use of tables, algorithms, and figures nicely complement the text and highlight key concepts. Six plates of color photomicrographs are used to demonstrate leukocyte, erythrocyte, and platelet abnormalities; urine sediments; and serum protein electrophoresis densitometer tracings.
I found three techniques used by the authors particularly helpful. First, a list of abbreviations at the beginning of each chapter. This is critical because the authors use a moderate number of abbreviations, which can be distracting at times. Most of the abbreviations used are commonly accepted (e.g., PCV, GFR); however, others are less ingrained (e.g., Crt for creatinine) or can be confused with more commonly used designations (e.g., LPS for lipase). Second, the authors include discussions in the text regarding techniques, results, or data that may be conflicting in the literature. The authors have done an excellent job of presenting the various views without going into excessive detail that would confuse students. Finally, the cross-referencing in the index is outstanding. For example, hypocalcemia can be searched under either calcium or hypocalcemia.
In summary, this text is an excellent reference for clinical pathologists and clinicians with a specific interest in the analysis and interpretation of laboratory data. Because the authors have emphasized the understanding of pathologic and physiologic processes associated with clinical pathology abnormalities, this book will be a particularly valuable resource for training veterinary students and veterinary clinical pathology residents.