Abstract
Before even opening this textbook, I was curious about the title. “Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease” replaces “Thomson's Special Veterinary Pathology,” although continuity is maintained by calling this the fourth edition. The new title obviously parallels the “human” pathology textbook, Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease (now in its seventh edition), required reading for medical students and residents in anatomic pathology (both human and veterinary) for over 30 years. The editors, McGavin and Zachary, “unashamedly” admit that the veterinary text was modeled “on its highly successful counterpart,” but would it prove to be a worthy counterpart?
In a word, yes! Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease, Fourth Edition, is markedly different and much improved from the third edition (published in 2001). The first 6 chapters (Section I) cover General Pathology, while the last 14 chapters (Section II) cover the Pathology of Organ Systems. The General Pathology chapters are new to this edition, as previous editions included only systemic pathology. Also new is the use of full color illustrations throughout the text. Gross and microscopic pathology images are of exceptionally high quality, and diagrams, tables, and other figures are well drawn, pleasing to the eye, and thoroughly captioned.
The General Pathology chapters are very well written, and provide enough detail even for students preparing for the American College of Veterinary Pathologists board certification examination. Veterinary students may find certain chapters a bit overwhelming in spots (e.g., chapters on Acute Inflammation, Chronic Inflammation and Wound Healing, and Diseases of Immunity), but explanation and illustration of important basic concepts are clear, despite the abundance of detail in some areas.
The approach in the systemic pathology section is somewhat different than in previous editions, and again, the change is for the better. Rather than attempt broad coverage of specific diseases of a given body system, a pathogenetic mechanistic approach is taken, where selected diseases are used as prototypes to explain the body system's unique responses to various kinds of insults. And each chapter begins with a brief review of normal structure and function—a logical lead-in to discussion of responses to injury. This organizational approach is appropriate for not only veterinary students using this textbook, but also for post-doctoral trainees in anatomic pathology. The book's inclusion of WebLinks, which provides students with internet links to additional resources for more detailed information, is an excellent supplement.
In summary, I highly recommend this textbook for students of veterinary pathology at all levels.