Synopsis
Thirty-seven chapters, written by specialists who teach and practice mainly in the US, are arranged in five parts: inflammatory reactions in the skin; predominantly noninflammatory conditions; infections; proliferations—hamartomas, hyperplasias, and neoplasias; and disorders of nails and the oral mucosa. Among the specific topics: spongoitic dermatitis, disorders of pigmentation, helminthic diseases, tumors of the epidermis, and cutaneous metastases. Appendices discuss laboratory methods and molecular biologic techniques for the diagnosis of cutaneous lymphomas. The text is exceptionally clear in its organization and is well illustrated. The second edition has been revised throughout to reflect current research and treatments. In addition, over 100 new color microphotographs have been added. Much of the revision was carried out by the associate editor, A. Neil Crowson (U. of Oklahoma and Regional Medical Laboratory, Tulsa). Barnhill is with the U. of Miami School of Medicine. Annotation © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Doody Review Services
Reviewer:Barbara M. Egbert, bs md (VA Palo Alto Health Care System)
Description:This book is written with the goals of providing a "descriptive histopathology and differential diagnosis" of entities in dermatopathology. Tables are used extensively to delineate the clinical features, histopathologic features, and the differential diagnosis of the skin diseases. The first edition was published in 1998.
Purpose:In the preface to the first edition the author asks, "Why another textbook in dermatopathology?" The author replies that there is a need for a general text emphasizing differential diagnosis and to use tables to summarize the key features of major entities. These are worthy objectives and the book met the author's objectives. As this is a second edition, the author and his coauthors revised each chapter.
Audience:This book is written primarily for practitioners of dermatopathology, but would be useful for dermatologists and general pathologists. Dermatology and pathology residents would also find this text useful, as there are introductory sections and the tables are helpful. Both the editor and associate editor are world-class dermatopathologists.
Features:This book covers the subject of dermatopathology from inflammatory diseases to neoplastic diseases. An introduction is included. The chapters cover the subject material very well, since the contributors are also extremely well-respected dermatopathologists. The disorders of the nail apparatus and disorders of the oral mucosa are welcome sections as these are areas frequently included in the practice of dermatopathology. The extensive use oftables is very helpful. Some of the photomicrographs on low power are somewhat less sharp than others. Also it would be nice if some of the photomicrographs were bigger.
Assessment:This remains a very high-quality textbook and is very useful in the differential diagnosis of various entities. As dermatopathology is progressing, day by day, it is not only justified, but necessary to update an older edition. The field of dermatopathology has a number of excellent texts. I have found Weedon's "Skin Pathology" to be very useful. (Churchill Livingstone 2002 Second edition) . However, I think the quality of the individual chapters and the prominent use of tables makes Barnhill a valuable textbook in the field of dermatpathology.