Abstract
This atlas is the expanded second edition of an excellent standard reference work for human gynecologic pathology, including 20 chapters and 971 photos which progress in ascending order from the vulva to the ovaries and peritoneum. Categories of diagnosis include non-neoplastic lesions, benign neoplasms, and malignancies of the human female reproductive tract. The material included is heavily weighted towards gynecologic oncology, but infectious disease is also included in some detail. It is engagingly written in a succinct “bullet point” format, with each pathologic entity displayed in one to several gross and histopathologic photographs with accompanying text. Bullets for each diagnosis include the typical clinical presentation and likely behavior of the lesion, gross and microscopic appearance, immunohistochemical markers or other ancillary diagnostic tests, and a list of differential diagnoses with distinguishing features. References are given in full at the end of each section, facilitating quick familiarity with the relevant literature.
This book's usefulness to veterinary pathologists is as a reference for those interested in the comparative pathology of the female genital tract. Pathologists evaluating female nonhuman primate reproductive tissues or involved with animal models of human female reproductive neoplasia will find this book useful. It is also a valuable pictorial guide to the lexicon of human pathology, for those needing to interpret outcomes of clinical research projects involving human subjects. Morphologic patterns commonly seen by our MD colleagues but rarely described in veterinary medicine (for example the Arias-Stella reaction, koilocytic atypia, and trophoblastic malignancies) are nicely illustrated and described.
Shortcomings include the highly specialized nature of the work, and the presumption that the reader is already familiar with normal human reproductive physiology and histologic anatomy. Unfortunately, features of the normal menstrual cycle are not included, and features of immaturity, senescence, and disorders of fertility are mentioned only briefly. The authors recommend a standard histology text for those needing a reference on the normal menstrual cycle (Mills, S. E., Histology for Pathologists, 3rd ed., 2006).
By comparison, the “gold standard” reference work in the field of gynecologic pathology (Kurman R. B., Blaustein's Pathology of the Female Genital Tract, 5th ed., 2002) has an encyclopedic level of detail regarding normal anatomy and development, reproductive physiology, and disease pathogenesis but no color photographs, and a much longer text that does not lend itself to quick review. This book in contrast is clearly designed as a handy and succinctly practical reference for the practicing MD surgical pathologist.
In summary, this is a highly specialized reference work of value to the subset of veterinary pathologists needing a visual understanding of human reproductive surgical pathology. The majority of veterinary pathologists will find it of only limited value.