Abstract
For the clinical patient, cytology is a diagnostic tool that can provide microscopic information for many different disease processes. At postmortem examination, cytology is an invaluable tool for defining the presumptive diagnosis and for starting treatment in serious situations. Cytologic evaluation is always an adjunct to other diagnostic procedures. A definitive diagnosis often requires information from the clinical history, physical examination, evaluation of samples obtained from the animal, radiographs, surgical investigations, postmortem examination, and histopathology.
Exotic animal patients often do not lend themselves to all of the diagnostic aids that are available for small animals. The small body size and blood volume of many exotic animals often limits the use of extensive biochemical and serodiagnostic evaluation.
Cytology is based on the study of individual cells. This can give information about pathophysiologic changes caused by a disease. The technique provides a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method of diagnosis that can be performed in any veterinary practice. Frequently, the etiologic agent causing the lesion can be identified.
The editor has met the goal to “tap the experiences and talents of several of the leading experts in the field of exotic pathology, and although not entirely comprehensive, provides a broad review of the cytology of exotic species.”
The volume begins with a basic chapter about the techniques and terminology of cytology and fluid cytology by T. W. Campbell, by now the nestor of exotic animal cytology and the author of the first book, Avian Hematology and Cytology, in 1988.
Many chapters follow, each dealing with the cytologic diagnosis of diseases or diagnostic cytology in different groups of animals: rabbits, guinea pigs, and rodents; hedgehogs; ferrets; cetaceans and sirenians; birds and reptiles; amphibians; fish; and even invertebrates! Included is cytologic information that, in many species, never has been published before.
Much information on the pet mammals is related to cytology of the skin, especially tumors and inflammatory processes. These are ordered by systemic classification and illustrated with pictures showing characteristic details. The non-neoplastic lesions are less documented, but that is because the book predominantly deals with clinical cases and not so much with cytology as a diagnostic tool at necropsy.
The chapter concerning cetacean and sirenian cytology is an excellent combination of anatomy, physiology, sample collection techniques, and experiences of different groups working with marine mammals. It stresses the normal findings compared to pathologic findings in washes of different organs, fecal samples, urine, vaginal specimens, and even milk. It is richly illustrated and organized according to organ system.
“Avian Cytology” gives an organ-oriented survey that is illustrated with many examples of etiologic agents. The chapter on reptilian cytology, after a short technical introduction, very nicely describes and illustrates the different clinical findings: inflammatory, cystic, hemorrhagic, neoplastic, and fluid cytology, as well as effusions of the body cavity and synovial fluid. It finishes with respiratory and gastrointestinal cytology.
The chapters on amphibians and fish bring the reader into a completely new world of organisms. This is a new area of anatomy, physiology, and medicine for most veterinarians. The fish chapter gives an excellent survey of the possibility and necessity of the microscope, as well as wet mounts and stained smears, as diagnostic tools. Any veterinarian who is interested in working with fish cannot do without this chapter.
The final chapter on invertebrates allows the book to cover the complete animal kingdom. And although these animals comprise more than 95% of the earth's species, this chapter covers only 7% of the book's pages, but it is full of useful techniques and suggestions for individuals who are working in, or new to, that field of diagnostic medicine.
This is a great book, and an even greater job was done by all of the contributors. It is a must in any practice or laboratory that considers itself to be serious in exotic animal medicine. The book is clearly written and illustrated by pathologists, scientists, and practitioners in the exotic animal medicine field, and it is an invaluable diagnostic tool.
One negative remark: It is sometimes difficult for those not yet familiar with cytology to recognize the “subjects” on some pictures because the marks are missing.